


a ghost at the back of your closet (no matter where you live)

by indoorbird



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28686036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indoorbird/pseuds/indoorbird
Summary: Four former inhabitants of the Isle of the Lost navigate college tours, hot pirates, a lord of the underworld, underground fight clubs, and someone being literal royalty.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie/Uma (Disney)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from "Up the Wolves" by The Mountain Goats  
> The canon of this fic is the first movie and then everything else cherry-picked at my leisure

Jay should have known taking an advanced class would somehow screw up his entire life.

After so many years of minimal effort in schooling, this bonehead move had completely upset the cosmic balance.

For the record, Jay wasn’t stupid. Concentrating for eight hours a day, five days a week was hard. Attendance wasn’t really a thing on the Isle. Jay had to work for a living. He could only go to class without catching any heat if he came home with enough loot to justify it.

Anyway, Jay was now taking Intermediate Sorcery. It was a small class taught by Fairy Godmother for students who showed aptitude in Introduction to Magical Concepts, a required class that was pretty easy. Ironically, even though the Isle had no magic, they seemed to know a lot more about it than the Auradon kids, who were so forward-thinking and goody-goody. When Jafar was drunk or just sad, he would give long speeches to Iago about enchantments he could do when he was young and in power. Through the old man’s ramblings, Jay had apparently soaked up enough to qualify for the advanced class.

At first, he brushed off the offer. Extra homework was not of interest to him. But then Carlos found out and told the girls, and they all ganged up on him.

“Why wouldn’t you want to learn more about magic? It’s magic _,”_ Mal said. Mal was part fae. She sweat magic. Her upbringing was centered around its absence, as she was trained to understand exactly what to do when she came into her power. To Mal, not wanting magic was like not wanting food in your belly.

“We can all do it together,” Evie said. She was hoping this class would reveal some talent inherited from her mother. Even if it didn’t, Evie was all about the _we_. If she couldn’t do magic, she’d happily wave useless wands just to keep the gang together.

“You could probably be good at it. Your dad is a powerful sorcerer,” Carlos said. He had experimented with spells but couldn’t connect with the magic, which was expected. He was taking the class to learn the theory. It seemed practical considering the company he kept.

“Are you afraid you wouldn’t be good at it?” Mal challenged. 

“Of course not!” Jay said. Then he realized he had walked straight into a trap, but it was too late to get out, “Fine, I’m in. I’ll be spelling better than all you guys in no time.”

Jay actually got excited about the class. He had visions of himself casting a really powerful spell with no effort. He even read the textbook beforehand just to check out all the amazing things he might do. 

On the first day, Jay came early, even beating Mal and Fairy Godmother who walked in together. After the coronation, those two had gotten tight, and Jay was only pretty sure no magical manipulation was involved.

Mal raised an eyebrow at Jay’s punctuality.

“Eager,” she said.

“I live to learn,” he said.

After the bell rung, Fairy Godmother explained the loose structure of the course. Each student allowed to choose their own area to study, under the guidance of Fairy Godmother. She asked for everyone’s names and if they had any inclination to the topic that they wanted to focus their thesis around. Carlos’ was so complicated it took ten minutes to explain. When they got to Jay, he said “magical objects”, which he had just come up with.

Fairy Godmother said they would start off by testing their practical ability. Training wands were passed around. You could only do simple spells with them, if you had the touch. Everyone was supposed to learn the proper casting form. Mal had it down, back and arm straight, wrist loose. She produced a controlled green flame. Evie was a little stiff, but she made a few blue sparks that were “very promising”. Carlos’ form was right, but nothing happened.

Next, Fairy Godmother was standing in front of Jay. Coach would call this the “moment of truth”. Jafar would say “you better not disappoint me”. Jay put his shoulders back, raised his right arm, and performed a perfect swish. 

Nothing happened. No sparks, no sounds, no flames. No power summoned forth that he never knew he possessed.

Fairy Godmother smiled and complimented his posture.

“Is it right?” he said, confused.

“Yes,” she said, “Nearly perfect.”

“So, if something was going to happen, would it have happened?” he said.

“I think so,” she said sympathetically, “I am a bit surprised as well. Of course, the ability is not always passed down from parent to child, but magical capability is a dominant trait.” 

Jay wanted to drop the class right there. What was the point if he wouldn’t be a powerful sorcerer like his father? If he wouldn’t be the best? But he’d learned a long time ago that if he couldn’t punch his way through an obstacle, he had to hide that he was deterred by the obstacle in the first place.

“Well, I still have my good looks,” he said, laughing. Fairy Godmother smiled and moved on. He looked at his friends. Evie and Carlos sent weak smiles. Jay had no patience for that. He turned to Mal who offered no comfort or eye contact. She was staring at the wand in his hand.

Jay did not drop the class. If he had, his life might have never turned upside down. He did keep it as low priority as his other classes, but hey, he had a lot on his plate. Jay was doing actual magic on the tourney field. Coach said he could get recruited to go pro. He’d play tourney until he was too old and be rich as a prince.

Jay liked the focus just waiting for the next game gave him. It was so much easier than constantly asking where he would find loot for his dad or a place to sleep if he didn’t. Mal spoke vaguely about the future and going back to reform the isle. Of course, a part of Jay wanted to help her crusade, but another part of him only wanted have enough to eat and warm beds every night for the rest of his life. He can’t think about going back without _going back._

Mal didn’t have the same fears. Unlike her friends, going back wouldn’t mean facing her parent or being subject to their tyranny, as her mother currently lived in a terrarium in Mal’s bedroom. She wished all her friends could feel the pure bliss that comes with having the person who caused you incredible pain turning into a harmless little salamander. 

Like a reptile shedding its skin, Mal felt she had become a new woman in Auradon. Her goals weren’t focused on proving her evil chops to her mother but on making a better world for Villain Kids. Mal would never tell the royals this but bending them to her pro-Isle agenda wasn’t so different from talking teenagers into joining the most powerful gang on the Isle (yes, Uma, _the_ most). It just involved fancier outfits and less street fighting.

It wasn’t easy at first. It wasn’t easy now, just manageable. Mal had to be the king’s royal consort, the Isle’s de facto ambassador, and create a new societal structure based on an alliance between age-old enemies. The pressure made handling Maleficent and Uma seem downright recreational, and she’d come close to giving up more than once. Mal had even gone _blonde_ , things got so bad.

It all came to a breaking point, but on the other side, she’d had Ben, her friends, a regular meeting with a school counsellor, and her weird new friendship with Fairy Godmother, or FG. You’d think she’d hold more resentment for Mal emotionally manipulating her daughter and going behind her back, but FG was more concerned that Mal’s primary guardian was now a salamander. She had elected herself to be Mal’s surrogate maternal figure, Auradon insider, and instructor in all things fae.

Mal often stopped by FG’s office to chat, particularly about magic. Usually, Mal wanted to ask about her own powers, but today, someone else was on her mind so after some small talk, Mal cut to the chase.

“I was surprised to see Jay had no magic ability,” Mal said.

“Usually, I do not discuss other students’ class performance…but I was as well,” Fairy Godmother said.

“Because of how powerful his father was?”

“Yes. Before Jafar was imprisoned, he was considered a foremost expert on complex conjuring and illusions. If you look in the library, you can find his writings and works cited repeatedly.”

“It’s odd,” Mal said, “My mother and Evie’s taught us the principles of magic even though we couldn’t use it. It was how their mothers raised them and so on. Jafar told him some stuff, but I don’t think Jay got trained like we did.”

“In magical communities, that’s basic child-rearing. The knowledge Jafar could impart to a young mind over the course of sixteen years could have been astounding. I wonder why he didn’t. Perhaps he expected he and Jay to spend their entire lives on the Isle.”

“Jafar doesn’t like sharing,” Mal said, thinking of the man counting coins in his shop, “I’m not entirely sure Jay lacks the touch. I think I saw something the other day in class.”

Mal explained what she’d observed. FG was curious so after Advanced Sorcery, she asked Mal and Jay to hang back.

“What’s up?” Jay said.

“Will you try this again, please?” Fairy Godmother said, handing Jay a practice wand.

“Didn’t we already prove this is useless for me?” Jay said.

“I thought I saw something and want Fairy Godmother to take a look. Humor us?” Mal said.

Jay shrugged then straightened up into casting posture. He flicked the wand.

“There, did you spot that?” Mal said.

“I didn’t see anything,” FG said. She pulled out her reading glasses.

“Watch Jay’s casting hand,” Mal said, “Again, Jay.”

Jay did as he was told. Fairy Godmother gasped. A nearly invisible shimmer of magic had appeared when Jay tried to use the wand.

“Good eye, Mal!” Fairy Godmother said.

“What is that?” Mal said.

“Strange. The wand’s power is reacting adversely to him,” FG said, “Jay, do you mind if I run a test?”

“Will it hurt?” Jay said.

“No, but it might tickle,” FG said. Jay nodded his permission. Glittering pink magic formed at Fairy Godmother’s fingertip. She touched the wand, and the magic quickly latched onto Jay’s hand, spreading from there to cover his entire body.

“Is this normal?” Jay said.

Fairy Godmother’s pink magic had turned a deep red. Where it touched on Jay’s body, symbols appeared, covering him from head to toe wherever his skin was visible. The symbols resembled rune letters, arranged in complex spirals that slowly moved across his body. Mal could barely read runes anyway, but these were written in a weird, tightly spaced calligraphy that made it even harder. She doubted even Evie would know it. FG moved closer, squinting to read the language as it floated across Jay’s body.

“Someone has spelled you,” she said, “A glamour. Intricate, undetectable magic, written into your skin, and flexible enough to grow and move as you do. Absolutely amazing”

“Why would someone do that?” Jay said, turning over his arm to watch the runes move with him.

“I can’t tell,” FG said, “This is ancient casting method. It could be for protection or, no, wait, I think this says to block detection. To hide you from something.”

“What kind of detection can undetectable magic hide you from?” Mal said.

“One specific person who might be looking for him. Or it may only be triggered under specific circumstance. This is a powerful ward, like the ones around this school to protect students from harm,” she said.

FG pointed at tiny ribbons of script snaking between the larger spirals in the pattern, “This is a binder. A magical contract the caster makes for the purposes and limits of a spell. If I had to guess, I would say there’s a clause here that allows the glamour to be revealed if someone has intent to. The magic is so subtle that the spellcaster likely thought no one would ever think to look for it besides themselves.”

“Who cast it?” Jay said.

“It must have happened since we’ve been in Auradon. No magic on the Isle,” Mal said.

“This would have taken hours to cast. It had to be done in person too,” Fairy Godmother said, “From my limited experience with dark magic, I would guess the caster would need to take blood and cast directly on your flesh. It would be extremely painful. I hope that has not happened while you’ve been under my supervision.”

“Can’t say I remember anything like that,” Jay said, “One time a workout made my glutes hurt for a week, but I think I just needed more potassium.”

“I don’t know of anyone in Auradon who could perform this sort of spell,” Fairy Godmother said, “I may seem ancient to you kids, but this style is from well before my time.”

“What happens if we remove the spell?” Mal said, “Living with this much magic can’t be healthy.”

“It’s a glamour. It is only useful until exposure so it should expire soon. One moment,” Fairy Godmother said. She went to the supply closet and procured a glass orb, “You can use a crystal ball to suspend a spell.”

“The ball preserves the magic’s energy too, if you capture it quickly. Whoever wields the ball can then cast that spell later,” Jay added. Mal and FG both looked at him with surprise.

“Very good,” Fairy Godmother said, “Did you read that while researching for your project?”

“My dad told me,” Jay said.

“Oh, I see,” Fairy Godmother said, her voice slightly shriller at the casual mention to a villain, “So, Jay, I want you to pull at the magic, separating it from your skin like a tight shirt.”

Jay did as he was bid, the runes bunching up like fabric. Jay gathered it into a pile of living, glowing magic. Fairy Godmother held up the ball, and Jay was able to push the magic through, trapping it inside. Mal could still see the runes swimming around in there, condensed into the smaller space. 

“While it’s preserved, we can study it,” Fairy Godmother said, “Oh, Jay, what a difference that made.”

Jay now had a healthy glow in his skin. Everything about him seemed more vibrant. It was weird to think it about someone she’d been looking at her entire life, but Mal felt like she was seeing Jay clearly for the first time, as if she’d been wearing fogged-up glasses until now. 

“Is this magic?” Mal said, “Was the glamour what was preventing him from doing any?”

“One way to found out,” Fairy Godmother said.

Jay flicked the wand again.

Absolutely nothing.

“But why would someone cast the spell?” Carlos asked later that night at dinner after Jay and Mal filled them all in.

Jay shrugged as he shoved broccoli into his mouth. Carlos was glad that removing an intricate spell conjured into his flesh hadn’t hurt his appetite.

“Jay has never slept alone. One of us would have noticed if someone snuck in at night to cast that spell,” Evie said. Next to her, Jane looked confused. Carlos guessed that she had just realized the four of them regularly broke curfew to sleep in each other’s rooms. He was looking forward to seeing Jane’s face when she learned the king joined in too.

“Unless one of you did it,” Jay said, “Mal? Any confessions?”

“That was some complicated, ancient rune work,” Mal said, “Most of my spells are still at the cute little rhymes level.”

“There’s something I need to tell you guys,” Evie said. Everyone became silent until she started laughing. Jay threw a piece of broccoli at her.

“Too bad removing the thing didn’t suddenly unlock magic powers,” Carlos said gently. He could tell Jay was bummed, maybe even insecure, about the lack of ability. But getting Jay to talk about his emotions was no easy task.

True to form, Jay shrugged, “I don’t really care. Although you guys will be doing my homework since you got me all psyched to be a wizard or whatever.”

“I anticipated that from the beginning, buddy,” Carlos said. Jay shot him a wink.

“Sea-witch incoming,” Evie said.

The table turned to watch Uma, flanked by Gil and Harry, approach the table. All three, along with a bunch of other VKs, had started at Auradon Prep this semester. Others were scattered across the kingdoms’ schools as part of Ben and Mal’s education initiative. 

“Merchant punks,” Uma greeted, “And nobility.”

Mal smiled tightly. As head of the Villain Kids Welcoming Committee, she had to pretend like Uma was not her sworn nemesis. Carlos could almost hear the words “wharf rat” trapped behind Mal’s teeth.

“You’re looking good, Jay,” Gil said, smiling brightly. Gil didn’t have a hostile bone in his body. It was downright disturbing coming from an Isle kid.

“Thanks. I got magically purged,” Jay said, smiling at Gil. They’d had something going on at some point on the Isle. Carlos could also see Harry and Evie smiling at each other. And then Harry was checking out Jay. For sworn enemies, the merchant and pirate gangs had really intermingled a lot.

“I’ve never seen you without your pirate regalia on, Uma. Preppy suits you,” Mal said. They then also maintained intense eye contact for a little bit. 

“I’ll be seeing you,” Uma said. The trio moved on.

“I think we just went back in time,” Carlos said, “I’m fifteen again. We’re at the Queen of Hearts’ club. I’m wondering if it’s the kind of night where we hook up with the pirates or have a knife fight.”

“And you’re minimally helpful in both situations,” Mal said. The four of them laughed.

“I haven’t understood anything for twenty minutes,” Jane said.

“Was that Gaston’s son? I haven’t formally introduced myself yet,” Ben said, eyebrows knit together nervously, “When I do, is there anything I should say?”

“Gil’s harmless,” Jay said.

“Gaston’s an asshole, but he and his kids mostly live in the woods and keep to themselves. Gil is the only one in a gang. I think the pirates were cuddly compared to his brothers,” Carlos said. Once, Carlos had hoped that Gaston was his father. Due to their fathers’ talent for hunting, all eight of his kids ate well- an Isle miracle. There was so many of them Carlos had wondered if anyone would notice if one day Carlos just joined them for dinner.

“Gaston’s a chauvinist and a creep,” Mal said, “He also never liked that Gil followed a girl.”

“If I couldn’t find a prince to marry, my mom had her eye on Gaston Jr,” Evie said, “If he was taken, Gaston III.”

“You’d be washing animal guts out of clothes for the rest of your life,” Mal said, “I gotta go. I have a meeting with Belle about Agrabah hospitality protocol.” She got up and grabbed her tray. Even though nobody else had somewhere to be, they all followed her lead to the trash can.

“I thought that was my meeting,” Ben said, scraping off his leftovers into the compost.

“You have a video conference with the Wonderland security council,” Mal said.

“Ugh, you’re right. That’ll be all night. They have no sense of time management,” Ben said, “I’ll see you guys later.” Ben left along with Jane.

“Carlos,” Mal said. She was holding out a piece of notebook paper to him, “Fairy Godmother told me about these books. I had time to look up the decimal numbers but not check them out. Will you grab them? I’ll explain later.”

Carlos looked at the writing, “RS? Isn’t that the Restricted Section?”

“You’ll figure it out,” Mal said as she walked briskly in the direction of Belle’s castle.

“I guess I’m going to the library,” Carlos said.

“Mal’s books can wait. You also have to pick up her dry-cleaning,” Jay said.

Carlos flipped Jay off. Really, he didn’t mind doing some errands, especially literary ones. He’d sworn allegiance to Mal when he was eleven, joining her gang to get in on her negotiated share of the barge. Mal had eyed his bony frame and pushed a second helping of cereal his way. It was more than his own blood had ever done for him.

They all headed back to Carlos’ room. Evie was designing the new tourney jerseys, and Jay was her reluctant model. Carlos was too busy working on his independent study project and pointedly trying _not_ to look at Jay’s bare, ripped torso. It was hard to narrow down his scope of study when every new piece of research he did contained so much crazy interesting knowledge. He wanted to do something about how technology and magic could be integrated, but even the supportive Fairy Godmother said that was very ambitious for a school project due in a few months.

She’d then said if anyone could figure it out, it would be him which made Carlos feel humiliatingly warm and fuzzy. Most of the adults, including FG, hadn’t trusted them when they got here, sometimes going out of their way to taunt or condescend to them if they didn’t know something. Carlos had spent long hours in the library to learn as much as he could in case he was sent back to the Isle.

A few months into their time here, teachers started giving him advanced work, which Carlos had to clarify with Ben was a good thing and not some sort of punishment. This semester, Carlos was taking half his classes at Auradon University. He could ask for a book or a piece of tech to study, and the school made it happen. Adults asked him questions and listened to his answers. It was a long way from _useless, burdensome idiot, get back in the closet, if you’re lucky, I’ll let you out tomorrow._

Carlos’ first invention had been an automatic lock picker. He still carried it. You never know. It was a good reminder anyway. As long as he had his mind and his hands, he could always get to somewhere better.

“Which one do you like better?” Evie asked.

“Well, the first one showed off my arms, but this one is easier to move in, so it’s a toss-up,” Jay said.

“Can you try this one next?” Evie asked, tossing him a deeper cerulean redesign of the second jersey style. Evie loved Ben, but the shade of blue his family had covered the entire city in was too bright for her sensibility.

Jay dutifully took off the jersey he was wearing, and Evie gasped.

“Jay, when did you get _that_?” she said. That was a large tattoo across Jay’s chest that she’d never seen before. It was an intricate spiraling design that took up almost the entirety of his pecs. Was Jay having some sort of well-hidden emotional breakdown that had made him seek out some new, dramatic body ink? Nevermind that it was illegal for minors to get tattoos here without parental permission. Gods, she hoped he hadn’t let some unlicensed stranger do that much work.

“Uh, sick tat?” Carlos said, sounding like this was also brand-new information even though the two changed side by side every night.

“Get what?” Jay said. She pointed at his chest, and he looked down, “What the…that wasn’t there this morning.”

“What?” Evie said. Jay walked over to the mirror and stared at his reflection.

“This is so weird,” Jay said.

“It looks like it was carved into you,” Carlos said. Evie looked closer. The design wasn’t made of ink but instead raised skin, like an old scar.

“Does it hurt?” Evie said.

“No,” Jay said, running his finger over it, “The design looks like the spell from before.”

“Magic always leaves a mark,” Evie said.

“Why would someone do this?” Carlos said.

“Villain Kid prejudice?” Evie said. Plenty of people were still very much against them being in Auradon.

“But no one’s actually hurt me,” Jay said.

“Yet,” Carlos said.

“Comforting,” Jay said.

“Why go after Jay? Mal’s the face. The new kids are the easier targets,” Evie said.

“It could have to do with Jafar,” Carlos said.

“The only kid here from Agrabah is Aladdin and Jasmine’s kid, and he’s, like, eleven,” Jay said.

“Remember us when we were eleven?” Carlos said.

“A spoiled royal kid couldn’t do this,” Jay said, “Fairy Godmother said _she_ couldn’t do this. She said it was really hard magic.”

“Right,” Carlos said, “Maybe I am headed to the library tonight.”

“It’s late, C. Really, don’t sweat it,” Jay said. He put a calming hand on Carlos’ tense shoulders. Typical. Jay gets magically branded, but he’s more concerned with Carlos’ sleep schedule, “Let’s call it a night and deal with this tomorrow.”

Evie nodded and gathered up her fabrics and sketches, “I’ll fill in Mal if she’s back.”

“Okay,” Jay said, “It’s probably fine.”

Evie nodded at him, and Jay relaxed a little, believing his own words with her reassurance. When it came to his looks or winning something, Jay loved all eyes on him, but Evil forbid he be worried over. Back on the Isle, he never appreciated anyone mentioning a new scar or bruise, especially if he was coming from a night at his dad’s. They were all like that, accepting pain as a constant, unchangeable fact, not something to be worried over or removed, only mitigated.

Mal, Evie, and Carlos had all slowly begun to embrace the Auradon practice of talking about your feelings. Jay’s emotional outlet just became hitting balls instead of faces.

Mal was in their room when Evie returned, working on some homework. She looked up when Evie walked in, and Evie could feel her energy was up which was a nice change from the exhaustion that had blanketed her friend for so many months.

“E,” Mal said, “My meeting with Belle went so late, and my brain is mush. Any chance I can have your physics notes?”

“Red notebook,” Evie said, throwing her backpack at Mal.

“You’re my hero. So, you know how I have that state dinner tomorrow at the museum with the leaders of Agrabah? Belle was going over conversation topics and it turns out the royal couple’s son was kidnapped. Like, full Rapunzel, missing since he was a baby, no one knows. So, I have to avoid bringing up kids, kidnappings, and- “

“Mal,” Evie said, holding up her phone, “I hate to interrupt, but there’s a new development on the Jay situation. Look at this.”

“That’s not one of my stick and pokes,” Mal said, scrutinizing the photo, “We have to tell FG.”

“Jay’s going to first thing tomorrow.”

“I’ll go with him,” Mal said, “I have a bad feeling this is going to turn into a whole thing.”

Evie sat down on the bed and put a hand on Mal’s shoulder. The months after the coronation had been rough for Mal. Evie still felt bad for how she hadn’t been there as much as she should for her friend. Mal had been hiding it so well, but still, Evie should have known.

Then again, Evie had been hiding something from Mal for- oh, Evil, was it a month now? It wasn’t bad or anything, but Evie still felt guilty about it, especially when she was alone with her.

“I’m worried too,” Evie said, “Maybe let’s just get some rest tonight? Tomorrow’s going to be a lot.”

“I’m all for beauty sleep. Who needs physics anyway? I can fly,” Mal said.

Before going to bed, Evie stood in front of her bathroom mirror. This one wasn’t magical, but she still found it helpful to talk to it. She and her mother used to do it every night, saying that Evie was the thinnest, prettiest, fairest of them all. She’d tried to get Mal to join in, but she preferred an old-fashioned burnt offering for a confidence boost.

Tonight, Evie looked at her reflection and said, “My friends will be okay. Jay will be okay. We will have peace.”

She was still worried, but it felt better to hear her hopes out loud. She remembered one of the core principles of magic: _All words have power._

Evie would be right about those words, eventually. A lot of shit just had to hit the fan first.


	2. Chapter 2

Carlos woke up early to hit the library.

On the Isle, books were his escape. He could remember every book that had ever passed through his hands. There were school textbooks which were Auradon textbooks that were twenty years out of date and covered in graffiti. There were books on loan from teachers, who themselves had to be extra careful about who they trusted since it wasn’t like the school would purchase new materials for them if these were lost. Madame Mim and Jafar sold books, and while Carlos wasn’t crazy enough to steal from either of them, he sometimes got away with reading a couple pages at a time while hiding in the aisles. If they needed to know something, Jay would copy pages by hand, that is if he could stand to spend more than a few hours at his father’s. Then there was the Evil Queen’s library, full of romance novels and reference books on royalty, potions, and dark magic. The queen didn’t do much reading, but Evie did, and they spent many days curled up reading on her bed, deathly quiet so her mother wouldn’t know he was there.

The Auradon Prep library was his favorite place. It was the first place he dared to walk alone to because his friends couldn’t keep up with the hours that he wanted to spend there. He’d build a fortress of books around his favorite table and just read and read. He had said if Maleficent’s plan to take the kingdom actually worked, he’d ask for ownership of the library in his boon. If it didn’t and they all got sent back, he wanted to learn everything he could beforehand.

The best part was you didn’t even need to steal the books! They just let you take them! If the Isle had a place like this…well, a lot of things about the Isle would have to be different to allow a library to stay standing. 

Carlos walked right to the Magic and Sorcery shelves. He’d been coming here a lot for his independent study project. The dark magic books allowed in general circulation were few in number, and Carlos assumed anything involving carving skin was dark. He headed for the brief section on wards that he’d already read through.

Wards weren’t technically spells. Spells had simple causes and effects. Wards were difficult to build and even harder to break. A skilled builder could write hundreds of clauses and loopholes into the structure of a ward, like a castle with many hidden passages that could only be navigated by its architect. Wards could last centuries and could take their power from any material (spoken words, rituals, the elements, numbers, blood, the list goes on). A family line or the stones of a building could be warded. Different cultures had their own styles.

The Isle was warded, so that no one could perform magic or die, but Carlos had gathered that apparently there were loopholes that Auradonians could access. Unsurprisingly, no one was very eager to tell Carlos more details beyond that.

Carlos had been doing a lot of reading on wards because his paper was about combining magic and technology, and wards were sort of like a computer. Both needed to draw their power from somewhere. They had specific uses and limitations. They operated by their own codes. Magic was chaotic and abstract, but in the form of a ward, it could be tightly constricted to perform complicated functions.

Unfortunately, they could also be carved into your best friend’s body.

Carlos browsed through Indexes, looking for any mention of “skin”, “flesh”, or “runes”. When he couldn’t find anything beyond basic definitions, Carlos wandered over to the back of the library where the Restricted Section was guarded by the terminally-pursed-of-lip Ms. Knuckles. Carlos had been too nervous to talk to her for months, until Ben introduced them. Now, they were old friends. This morning, Knuckles was reading a copy of the _Auradon Herald._ On the front page was a press photo of Agrabah’s Princess Jasmine and Prince Aladdin shaking hands with Ben.

“Good morning,” he said, smiling, “How are you today, Ms. Knuckles?”

“It’s too early for this conversation,” she said.

Carlos kept smiling, “I love getting an early start. I was hoping to check out these books. It’s for an Advanced Sorcery research assignment, supervised by Fairy Godmother.”

Carlos held out Mal’s scrap of paper. Ms. Knuckles seemed unimpressed by him dropping FG’s name, but she took the paper and read it.

“These entries are unavailable for checkout,” she said, “Only supervised readings.”

“If you need to, I can get a note,” Carlos said.

“No exceptions. These are too fragile to leave the library.”

Well, that piqued his interest. Even if he couldn’t get the books to Mal, he was still curious what they were, “So could I possibly get a look at them here? Under supervision, of course.”

“I suppose,” Ms. Knuckles said tersely. She got up, and Carlos followed her into the shelves. His eyes kept wandering to different book spines, and he had to restrain himself from stopping to get a closer look.

Ms. Knuckles led him into a cold back room he’d never been in before. Cabinets lined the whole room. In the center, there were a couple of reading tables.

“Gloves required,” Ms. Knuckles said, gesturing at a box of latex gloves on one of the tables. Carlos put them on.

Out of a cabinet, she pulled out a clear box. Inside were dozens of yellowed paper scrolls. Each one’s wooden core chained to the box.

“No flash photography. Gloves on. Don’t spit on them,” Ms. Knuckles said. She went over to one of the tables and resumed reading her newspaper.

Carlos moved closer and read the tiny typed card stuck to the lid.

ITEM: RS.244

CONTAINING: 16 SCROLLS OF MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON SORCERY, ANCIENT RUNES, AND CURSES. WRITTEN BY JAFAR, FORMER GRAND VIZIER AND COURT SORCERER OF THE KINGDOM OF AGRABAH. MATERIALS SEIZED FROM HIS PRIVATE STUDY AND DONATED BY THE SULTAN OF AGRABAH.

These belonged to Jafar? These scrolls, just sitting here in a box in an Auradon high school? If Jafar knew any grubby teenager with a library card could read his precious writings, he’d be furious. The thought made Carlos smile.

Of course, said teenager would need to able to read Arabic. Jay had taught him a few phrases here and there, but Carlos didn’t know the alphabet. He would have to bring Jay back here to translate. 

Carlos carefully opened a few different scrolls. One had a map of a city. One was a complex spiral pattern with symbols twisted in between the lines. These symbols didn’t really look like Arabic words though. They were some sort of runes. And they were the same as the ones on Jay’s skin.

Fairy Godmother almost fainted when she saw Jay’s brand-new branding.

“So…this isn’t good?” Jay said to break her horrified silence.

“This is very dark magic. The anti-detection glamour was likely step one in a complex, multifaceted ward that was written into your skin. The use of blood and flesh adds considerable power, strength, and longevity.”

“It looks old,” Mal said, “When this was first cast, the wound would have taken weeks to heal. Even if it was spelled to be invisible, Jay would have noticed.”

“So, it can’t have happened in the time we’ve been here,” Jay said.

“It’s incredible you or the caster didn’t die in the process. It would take someone truly vile to do this to another human being,” Fairy Godmother.

“Vile, desperate, nothing to lose,” Mal said, “I can think of a few who fit that description.”

“I can shorten the list.” They all turned to see Carlos enter the room.

“It was Jafar,” he said. He held up his phone, “Look at this.”

Jay, Mal, and FG leaned in close together to look at the phone screen which showed a drawing that looked a lot like the design of glamour and the branding.

“My dad drew this? Where did you find it?”

“Mal’s library books. His private writings are in the library’s restricted section,” Carlos said.

“I didn’t think those notes would be anything more than just interesting to look at,” Mal said, “I’m such a genius sometimes.”

“What sort of father would attempt such dangerous magic on his own child?” Fairy Godmother said.

“Yeah, that part isn’t so surprising,” Jay said.

“What’s the purpose though?” Mal said, “The ward could be for protection but…”

“But my father doesn’t really care about me that much?” Jay said. Mal shrugged and nodded.

“If Jafar somehow had magic on the Isle, how could we not know? The possibilities are endless of what he could have done,” Fairy Godmother said.  
“If there was magic on the Isle, this would not have been our first sign,” Mal said, “He or someone else would have used it a long time ago. We’d know.”

_I would know,_ Jay thought. After all, his father would have been much scarier if he could actually wield that dusty scepter for magic instead of plain old hitting. He was always searching for objects with any sort of magical trace still on them, always pushing Jay to go for bigger and riskier hauls. If Dad found magic, he’d have no use for Jay.

Fairy Godmother elevated this to a top security priority and said she would put her best minds on studying the glamour and her many pictures of Jay’s branding.

Jay was so grateful that today of all days, he could skip class. Coach had this tourney conference thing at a college, and the school told him to bring along a player. Before Jay was just looking forward to missing class, but there was the added bonus of missing-

“Do you think this could have something to do with the fact that Jafar was a djinn for a while?” Carlos said, “Maybe you inherited something.”

“He was made mortal again before being sent to the Isle, so I don’t think I came from any genie sperm,” Jay said. His friends had followed him to the main office to wait with him, interrogating him the whole time.

“Please don’t make me think about Jafar’s sperm,” Mal said, “But you’d probably know, if you were. I mean, I think I’d know I was fae even if no one told me. I can make a wish and test it out.”

“I wish for this conversation to be over. Okay, wish granted,” Jay said.

“What’s your problem?” she said.

“I just don’t want to talk about this anymore,” he said, searching again for Coach to finally free him from this conversation.

“Don’t you want to know how it happened?”

“I’m really not that worried about it. I’m not hurt or anything.”

Mal narrowed her eyes and stared at Jay’s chest, “Well, whenever it did happen, it would have hurt really fucking bad. Is that worrying?”

“I survived,” Jay said. 

“But did Jafar ever say anything to you?”

“Hmm, let me just quickly parse through sixteen years of conversations. I can break most of it down into commands, threats, and drunk ramblings.”

“What about warnings?”

_If you don’t come back with something valuable, you’re going to be in a lot of pain._

“Most of the warnings were also threats,” Jay said.

“Do you remember anything from when you were really little?” Carlos said. He had shifted his weight to stand right on top of Jay, looking up at him all earnest and concerned. Those stupid puppy dog eyes made Jay feel like he _had_ to give a real answer. They could make him feel like he had to do pretty much anything.

“I really don’t know,” Jay said, “I mean, he was sort of…he was always strict. But before he started kicking me out, I almost never left the apartment. I wasn’t even allowed in the store. He said it was because I’d be in the way. I don’t know. Maybe it was for protection or maybe he just didn’t know what else to do with a kid. But it felt like I was a secret.”

“I didn’t know that,” Mal said.

“Well, once I was old enough to steal, I was put to work, and that ended,” Jay said, shrugging.

“Jay,” Finally, there was Coach, “De Vil. Mal. Trying to tag along?”

“Where are you going again?” Mal said. When Jay first mentioned this last week, she had been suspicious that Jay was going off-campus alone with Coach, even though they went to away games all the time. Jay was hoping she sort of forgot.

“Auradon City University, only half an hour away,” Coach said, “I hear you and the king are interested in attending yourselves.”

“Ben doesn’t really have a choice, but I’m considering,” Mal said, “Watch your back there, Jay.”

“It’ll be fine,” Jay said tersely.

“I’ll just go and sign you out,” Coach said, walking past them into the admin office. Great thing about Coach- he was one of the only Auradonians Jay ever met who could read a room.

“Maybe you should just stay on campus today. What if this thing has some kind of side effect?” Mal said.

“We can watch out for you here,” Carlos said.

“It’s going to be _fine_. I can handle it. Just trust FG and don’t worry about it, okay?” Jay said.

Mal nodded, but Jay knew all of Mal’s looks, and this one said _I’m not letting this go._

“Of course, I’m not letting this go,” Mal said to Evie. Evie was paying more attention to their Physics lab, which involved building a track for a toy car to drive over. 

“Well, you know Jay,” Evie said, “He would rather bleed out than tell you he got stabbed. Like, he used to actually do that.”

“Isle things,” Mal said with the exasperated tone they adopted when their old habits clashed with Auradon norms.

“It’s a boy thing too,” Evie said, “I think we forget that Carlos and Ben’s levels of emotional sensitivity are the exception, not the rule.”

“Ben would rather bleed out than _not_ share a feeling,” Mal said, with affection. She looked at her phone, “I’m going to have to ditch you in like five minutes. State dinner.”

“I know. I made your beautiful dress,” Evie said absentmindedly. She looked down at her phone. Serendipitously, a new text read _no roommate tonight?_

“Thank you again for that,” Mal said.

“It is tonight, right?” Evie said, “Why are you leaving before lunch?”

“It’s like an extra big deal dinner so we have to go over our messaging and whatever beforehand.”

“Right,” Evie said. She shot back a text that said _totally free._

“Agrabah’s royal family hasn’t formally visited the capital in years,” Mal said, “They generally hate foraying into inter-kingdom politics and can barely stand Ben’s dad. It would be a promising sign that they sent their kid to school here, but then, move-in day happened.”

“No chance they just forgot that?” Evie said, returning her attention back to her lab partner and away from the three pulsing dots on her phone.  
“Unlikely. I have some reason for optimism. We haven’t heard a peep about it since then, for starters. It’s not like they made their son drop out or even complained to the school. I mean, I’ve had it out worse with Phillip and Aurora. But it’s probably going to take days of ass-kissing to regain the ground lost and then even more to get them to actually hear my pro-VK agenda out.” Mal’s hands moved to massage her temples, as if preparing for the headaches to come.

“Will Mal please come to the front office?” an announcement came over the PA.

“And so, it begins,” Mal said.

“You’ll be great,” Evie said, “They’re going to love you and forget why they ever doubted a VK.”

Mal smiled wanly, “Thanks. Oh, and Evie, do me a favor. Don’t mention the fact they’re in town to Jay. He’s stressed out enough.”

Jay’s stress had pretty much disappeared by lunch.

For starters, the college was awesome. Coach had signed them up for a full tour of the campus. The buildings were all modern and high-tech. Carlos would have a field day. The students seemed a lot more laid back than the ones at the Prep. Jay even saw some people wearing sweatpants. The royals at school would never.

It also just felt so wonderfully anonymous. At school, he walked around like he had a huge VK sign painted on his back. It was nice to just be a face in the crowd for once.

After the tour, Coach took him back to the tourney stadium. It could seat thousands of people. Jay tried to think of that many people all watching him score a goal and screaming his name.

They sat in the bleachers and watched the college team practice. These guys were really good. Coach had been showing him tapes of college games so Jay could see how they play. Each player here had all probably been the best on their high school teams. Jay wanted to go out there and see how he matched up.

After their practice, their coach came up and greeted Coach with a manly, back-slapping hug.

“Here to steal my job?” he said.

“Trip, you know I could never leave the Prep,” Coach said, laughing, “This is Jay.”  
“I’ve seen his tapes. You trying to get me in trouble, Jenkins?”

“Jay’s only a junior, and we’re in preseason. You’ve got a month before you’re breaking any rules. This is just a friendly run-in,” Coach said.

“In that case, how are you, son?” he reached out to shake Jay’s hand.

“Good, sir,” Jay said. He never really knew how to act around strange adults here, especially other men and especially ones who just said something Jay didn’t understand.

“You’ve got great hustle,” Coach Trip said, “I could use a man like you, speaking in pure hypotheticals, of course.” He winked at Jay.

“Jay’s my best man,” Coach said, “Mind if we stick around and check out your facilities?”

“Be my guest. If it was a couple months from now, I’d give you the tour myself. A player like you Jay would get the royal treatment here. But, of course, we’re speaking in hypotheticals.”

“I appreciate your commitment to tourney recruitment formalities,” Coach said.

The college coach said good-bye and followed his players into a tunnel off the field. Coach and Jay followed behind him down the bleachers, making their way to the field.

“What was he talking about with hypotheticals?” Jay said.

“College recruitment standards. There’s rules about where and when coaches can approach you to try and get you to play for them.”

“He wants me for his team?” Jay said.

“A lot of people are going to want you, son,” Coach said, “When our season starts, you’ll be courted like the head cheerleader before cotillion.”

“I mean, you mentioned it before, but I didn’t know it was all coming up so fast.”

“The top-notch players usually commit by the end of junior year.”

“Woah.”

“I’ve got the boring rules and forms at my office. We can go over it in the coming weeks. There’s some legal mumbo-jumbo to sort. Nothing too hairy.”

Jay couldn’t wait to tell his friends. He automatically pulled out his phone, but when turned it on, their groupchat had like 100 new messages. He saw the previews of the most recent ones.

**c:** so i’m assuming coach has eaten you at this point

**m:** im telling ben u stole that phone if u won’t answer our texts!!!

**king b:** Jay, I would have gotten you a phone if you needed one.

**e:** chill guys his location is on and he’s literally on a tourney field.

**m:** how do we know jenkins didn’t bury him there

**c:** it’s how he would’ve wanted to go

“Sorry, Coach, one second,” Jay said.

**j:** chill im fine

**j:** ditching u guys for some cool new college friends :p

There, a tongue emoji should calm them down and prove he’s alive.

“Your friends texting in class?” Coach said.

“Uh…”

“I don’t care. I’m not their teacher.” Coach said. Jay laughed.

“Is everything okay with them? Mal looked me over like she was trying to threaten me in ten different languages, which she hasn’t done in about two months.”

“They just worry. I mean, we come from a dangerous place,” Jay said, defensively.

“Right,” Coach said, “Fair enough.”

Jay wanted to say some more stuff about how his friends honestly had every right to think Jay was in trouble because going on a trip of vague purposes with an adult stranger was textbook how-to-die stuff on the Isle. But he really did like Coach. Obviously, he wasn’t from the Isle, but Jay sort of felt like the guy got their whole thing. Like, sometimes Chad would say something extra stupidly privileged, and Coach would look at Jay with a half-smile like they had a little inside joke.

Coach was kind of off though. Like, Jay liked that about him, but Jay was off too because he was from the Isle. But what was Coach’s excuse? Like, he may be a tourney coach now, but if he told Jay that he used to be an expert assassin, Jay would probably believe him. He just had that sort of vibe like he’d seen it all.

He looked down at his phone. Just one text from Mal.

**m:** what r u doing with jenkins anyway?

Now that he was thinking of it, Jay had been so wrapped up in the tourney and ignoring the thing on his chest that his weird radar had been totally ignored all day. Maybe it was just that good old-fashioned Isle survival paranoia, but right now, that radar started going off like crazy.

“Coach,” he said, “Why are we on this field trip?”

“So, you can see the kind of college arena you’re going to play in,” he said quickly. Too quickly.

“Why today though?” Jay said, “You never like us missing class. You said it had to be today too, that there was some sort of conference. But no one else is here. There’s no reason we couldn’t have come on the weekend.”

“That’s my day off. I need to catch up on my soap operas.”

“Coach.”

Coach sucked on his teeth before speaking, “The crown princess of Agrabah and her husband were at the school today. Their security thought it would be a good idea for you to stay in your room for the duration of their visit.”

Oh.

Of fucking course.

No one would just do something nice for Jay just for the sake of it. He’d been so fucking stupid. 

“Are you for real?” Jay said,

Coach nodded. The insult made Jay’s chest burn. It was one thing to get the suspicious looks and double-handed comments but to hear a teacher say it, like Jay should be so understanding of how nice Auradon people see him as a threat.

It made him want them to be right. It filled him with the kind of shame that made people do terrible things.

“That’s bullshit!” Jay screamed at Coach, forgetting the chummy demeanor from two seconds ago. He wanted to hit Coach, but the back of his head told him that was a stupid idea so instead he kicked the nearest thing he could find- the concrete wall of the stadium.

“Fuck that!” Jay said. His toes were aching already.

“I agree,” Coach said, “So did Fairy Godmother. She called it cowardly, which is her version of the c-word. But crown security got Agrabah’s request too, and Fairy Godmother didn’t have the authority to refuse.”

“I was a matter of national security,” Jay said, “That’s flattering. I bet they’ve been watching me all year. I go anywhere near their brat, and a bunch of guards jump out, right?”  
“Not at my school,” he said, “Listen to me. You have the same playing field as any other student. There’s no secret traps.”

“Just secret field trips,” Jay said.

“I didn’t want today to feel like a punishment,” Coach said, “They’re wrong, son. Plain wrong and cowardly. You’ve got more backbone than all of them.”

“They let us off, but they don’t want us thinking we’re free. They know we’ll always snap back into line if they remind us how we can be sent back any time.”

“Over my dead body,” Coach said.

“Whatever.” Jay spit at the ground.

“Now you listen to me. You should feel proud. I don’t know how you do it. Your schoolwork, taking care of your friends, watching the De Vil boy like a mother hen. All that and having to be your own man because your dad’s not around. My dad was a piece of work. But he was around, always breathing down my neck, keeping me in line, but around. I don’t know who I’d be if he was gone.”

“It’s better without him. If he was here, he’d just be reminding me what a fuck-up I am,” Jay said, his throat feeling kind of thick. He didn’t want to talk about Jafar. Why did everything have to go back to Jafar?

“Your dad can’t see what I see. It’s not just talent. I know you go to sleep reciting the playbook in your head. You give your full effort every time you get out there. You should feel proud.”

“Yes, Coach,” Jay said, ducking his head. All the fight was going out of him. He didn’t know how to handle all these nice words at once. Coach probably just felt bad for him, the poor Isle kid with no parents.

“This is yours for the taking,” Coach said, gesturing to the field, “You’ll leave the Prep, and you’ll never have to talk to or listen to a crown again. You just keep doing the work you’ve been doing. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Coach,” Jay said.

“Even if you decided you hate tourney tomorrow and want to drop out of school to sell candied hams, it wouldn’t mean you’re going back. I’m not going to let that happen,” Coach said, “You hear me?”

“Yes, Coach,” Jay said, swallowing the knot in his throat. He raised his head. Coach had a weird look on his face. He wasn’t giving Jay orders. At least, not like Jafar ever would. He looked like he knew what he was talking about though. Like somewhere in his mysterious, shady past he’d figured some shit out just so he could pass it on to definitely-not-crying teenage tourney players of villainous origins.

Annoyingly, Jay even felt better. Coach was right, even if he was just saying this stuff because he pitied him Jay could take care of himself. He could get rich and famous off tourney. Or he could just steal shit and fight and be fine. All he had to do was avoid Agrabah forever. Just a few people in the whole world to stay out of the way of. Jay had done harder things than that.

“How’s that foot?”

“It’s fine.”

“Don’t bullshit me. That foot has a national championship to win.”

“It’s really okay. Just a bruise. I’ve had worse.”

“Alright. We still got some time to kill. Do you want a burger? There is a joint down the block. They cook with magic, I swear,” Coach said.

Jay exhaled, and some of the tension went out of his shoulders. Manly heart-to-heart time was over. Thank Evil for that.

“That sounds great.”


	3. Chapter 3

With Mal and Ben off on royal duties, dinner was just Evie, Carlos, and Jay. Evie relished the chance to catch up with her boys. It had been great getting closer to Mal while they shared a room, but otherwise, she hated the distance caused by Auradon’s restrictive gender separations. On the Isle, the four of them all shared the loft of their headquarters and didn’t give a flying fae about propriety. Here, if a guy and girl hung out, it automatically meant romance, and romance meant the most chaste and chivalric of unions.

It was not an idea that would be popularly received, but Evie often felt like Auradon could learn a thing or two from the Isle about loosening up their ideas of gender and sex. The fact that the four of them felt the need to hide their tendency to sleep in each other’s rooms more fervently than their illegal spellcasting said a lot. Ben’s eyes had almost popped out of his head the first time he heard Mal call the act “fucking”. 

The topic of tonight’s meal was “anything that wasn’t the mark on Jay’s chest”. They had already talked through the second most exciting topic which was Jay’s field trip with Coach Jenkins. Evie went off for about ten minutes about how not even a stupid princess gets to jeopardize her friend’s education. Carlos correctly pointed out it set a terrible precedent for other VKs. Jay agreed it was really annoying and rude, but he was trying to appear over the whole thing, or at least, over talking about it.

She kind of wished he let her rant for a little longer. Because now the conversation was…

“This is really good pudding,” Carlos said.

“I added sprinkles to mine,” Evie said. They shared a look of mutual frustration. They were both hard-wired so that when they learned something interesting, they wanted to keep digging until they understood it fully.

“Pirate approaching,” Carlos said, and Evie’s heart flipped. She turned and saw the one pirate who could cause that in a good way.

Uma looked back at her, and they had a silent conversation in looks and mouthed words.

 _I didn’t know you’d be here,_ Uma’s raised eyebrow said.

_Mal’s not here so…_

_Are you sure?_

_Take a seat._

Uma sat sideways in the chair next to Evie so that her whole body was turned to face her.

“Princess,” Uma said in a lowered voice.

“Uh…what’s up, Uma?” Jay said.

“Mind if I join?” Uma said, smiling.

“You already have,” Evie said.

“Where’s your crew?” Carlos said.

“Somewhere else,” Uma said. She threw an arm around the back of Evie’s chair. Under the table, Evie’s hand rested daintily on top of Uma’s knee.

“Okay…” Jay said. Carlos raised an eyebrow but didn’t push further.

“My crew’s not here. Entertain me, my favorite goody-goodies. What are you up to these days?” Uma said, as she swiped one of Carlos’ extra pudding cups, “Building nursing homes for stray cats? Knitting hats for the bald?”

“We’re not up to anything,” Carlos said.

“Is it top secret or something?” Uma said. She looked at Evie.

“Really, we’ve got nothing,” Evie said, “Just homework.”

“Hades, this is killing you two,” Jay said, “I got cursed.”

“We can talk about it?” Evie said.

“Better than talking homework,” Jay said.

“What kind of curse?” Uma said. Her magic was like Mal’s- not a power to be called upon but something she was made of. If she concentrated hard enough, Evie could feel it buzzing off her skin.

“I wouldn’t classify it as a curse,” Carlos said, smiling with relief over the end of the gag order.

“Who did it?” Uma said.

“Jafar,” Carlos said.

“How?” Uma said.

“We don’t know,” Carlos said.

“My mom would know if there was magic ten miles away, and then, she’d suck it dry,” Uma said, “No, it can’t have been Jafar.”

“It was done a long time ago,” Evie said, “So it had to be done on the Isle.”

“How do you know?” Uma said.

Carlos and Evie looked at Jay who set down his dessert and pulled his collar to show the carving in his skin.

“Blood magic,” Uma said with glee. She reached out a finger to feel it which Jay swatted away.

“That carving is years old,” Carlos said.

“Magic can speed up healing,” Uma said, “Would have come in handy on the Isle.”

“But then the caster would have to carve this huge ward into his skin, knock him out for the whole thing, make him forget about it, cover it up, and then speed up the healing. It’d take a master sorcerer,” Evie said, “It’s Jafar’s ward design. Who else would do it? We just don’t know how he did magic on the Isle.”

“If my dad somehow got off the Isle…” Jay didn’t finish his sentence. Evie remembered dusk when Jay’s eyes turned back to that shop. He’d never drop his smile, but he’d be patting his pockets, his hands feeling for the rings and wallets whose worth would determine how Jafar welcomed his son home.

Evie would be freaking out right now if there were no longer miles of ocean between her and the Queen. She couldn’t help but feel all the confidence and freedom she’d worked so hard to build would collapse around her.

“I’ve still got some of my crew on the Isle,” Uma said, no longer smiling because she got it too, “It might take a minute, but I can ask someone to check in on Jafar.”

Jay was still too Isle to thank a pirate, but he nodded, his eyes focused intently on the wooden table. She hated that look on his face, like he was trying to pack himself up into the tiniest possible box.

“I know a faster way to answer our questions,” Evie said.

“I’m listening,” Jay said, eyes snapping up to hers.

“My mirror,” she said.

“I thought you put that in the museum?” Carlos said.

“I did,” Evie said, “Are we still wicked enough for a little breaking and entering?”

“Stealing?” Uma said, gasping in fake horror, “But Auradon girls don’t steal!”

“Ben told me if you give it back eventually, it’s a prank,” Jay said.

“I feel like you’re paraphrasing that. But I’m in,” Carlos said.

“Great. We’ll go tomorrow,” Evie said.

“Why not tonight?” Jay said.

“There’s kind of a huge state dinner there tonight.”

“Perfect. We’ll have cover. No one will be in the actual exhibits.”

“It’s a really important dinner for Mal. Because it’s with the princess of Agrabah.”

“Oh, right. The woman who couldn’t even stand to be on the same campus as me for a day.”

“Mal just really wants it go well.”

“I can do it without Mal ever finding out. If you guys are too chicken, stay here. I’ve pulled bigger jobs before. Solo,” Jay said.

“Come on, we can go tomorrow,” Carlos said.

“But how am I going to sleep tonight if there’s a chance my dad has his powers again?” Jay said. He wasn’t just trying to be daring for the sake of it. He looked _scared_.

Evie was always a soft touch.

“You’ll need a tux,” she said, “And something to hide that hair too. It’s your most memorable feature.”

“Really?”

“Fuck that princess and fuck her feelings,” Evie said. Uma cackled. Jay and Carlos whooped.

“Evie, you’re my favorite person,” Jay said, breaking into a huge smile. Gods, it would be pretty worth any fallout just to have seen that.

“Alright, a heist!” Carlos said.

“Uma, you in?” Evie said, and the silent conversation resumed.

 _I’m sorry, I know we had plans, but it’s for Jay_.

_Whatever- just make it up to me later._

_Happily.  
_“I don’t have the energy for your townie shenanigans tonight,” Uma said, “I’m out.”

“No fun,” Jay said.

Uma got up from the table, her eyes saying a final _later_ to Evie.

“Okay,” Evie said turning to her boys, “Here’s the plan.”

Everything was going according to plan.

Mal looked amazing in her Agrabah-inspired-but-Evie-made outfit. The museum’s main hall was beautifully decorated. All of Auradon’s who’s-who were beginning to arrive. Even the press was acting tame, cowed by the dignity of the whole affair.

This large dinner would set the tone for the Agrabah princess and prince’s weeklong stay where they would discuss trade, inter-kingdom cooperation, and the building of the new Agrabah cultural center in the capital. It was essential for Ben to establish a working rapport tonight so the meetings to follow would be maximally cooperative. Mal would be Ben’s charming better half at first but then strike them with her pro-VK agenda.

Mal got nauseous with nerves at the first twenty or so of these events. There was so much pointless ceremony and so many people wanting a piece of her or to use her to get to Ben. Worst of all were those who deliberately provoked her by bringing up Mother or the Isle. Mal knew many of the people she spoke to had self-serving interests, but here, they hid behind courtesy and flattery. Mal’s inability to parse through those veils had made her feel like she was in grave danger at all times.

When she finally blew up to Ben after months of her silently drowning, he’d presented the very Auradon solution of talking to a counsellor. Every instinct in Mal’s Isle heart told her not to reveal her vulnerability to a stranger of all people, but after weeks of teeth-pulling, it did sort of help to talk to someone who had no history or motivations. She’d given Mal breathing exercises for when she got stressed, which Mal had found a quiet place to do a few minutes before.

Now she was ready, standing next to Ben, whose presence made her feel so strong and safe. The entire room bowed to Princess Jasmine, heir to the throne, as she entered slowly with a steely grace. Her father, the sultan, still lived, but most of the royal duties had been passed on to his daughter. You could see her wearing that authority as clearly as she wore her stunning purple and gold gown. Behind her was her husband, Aladdin, prince consort, and their son, Aziz, the eleven-year-old crown prince.

“Welcome to Auradon City, Princess,” Ben said, taking Jasmine’s hand to kiss her royal ring.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Jasmine. She’d really mastered making the courtesies sound authentic.

“Welcome, Princess,” Mal said. They exchanged kisses on the cheek.

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Mal,” Jasmine said. She didn’t sound like she hated Mal so far.

Prince Consort Aladdin followed, smiling warmly, and then there was Prince Aziz, who kept looking at his shoes. Belle had mentioned it was his first state dinner.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Prince Aziz,” Mal said. The prince smiled politely, but he only held eye contact with her for a few seconds before his eyes darted away nervously.

Mal darted her eyes away too because otherwise, she would be staring. The prince had an uncanny resemblance to an eleven-year-old Jay. Put on a beanie and a too-smug-for-his-own-good grin, and it would be a close copy.

She didn’t know much about Jafar besides the fact that he was Jay’s dad and a huge asshole. But she knew he held a royal title. Maybe he was related to the royal family, some third cousin who passed on the family look to Jay?

Or maybe Mal has been worrying about this dinner and her good friend Jay so much this week that her mind was playing tricks on her. Yeah, it was probably that. She couldn’t wait to tell the counsellor about this one. 

The night’s ceremonies commenced with a traditional dance from Agrabah. As was custom, Ben began standing across from Princess Jasmine, while Mal was partnered with her husband, Aladdin.

Mal smiled graciously at him, but once the music started, she was busy concentrating on her footwork. Aladdin though wanted to chat.

“I hate the dance,” he said. His accent was thicker than the princess’. 

“Pardon?” she said while bending into a lunge, arms spread apart.

“Every place we go, we do the dance, and I never get better. I’m Aladdin. I like to get to know all my fellow arm candy.”

“Mal,” she said, “Arm candy, royal advisor.”

“Oh, you advise as well? Very nice. I just look pretty. Look, my son is glaring at me. He told me not to try to be funny. I told him I do not have to try.”

Mal snuck a look at where Prince Aziz was sitting, watching them with concern.

“You are a student at Auradon Prep?” he said.

“I’m a senior.”

“Now I am the embarrassing dad in front of the cool senior girl at my son’s school.”

“He’s a first year in the middle school, right?”

He nodded, as he spun her, “We wanted him to wait until high school, but he really wanted to go to school with King Ben and all the other royal kids. We worry with the distance, obviously.”

Mal almost stumbled. Aladdin’s tone was casual, but it felt like he was alluding to his first son, the prince who had been kidnapped as a baby sixteen years ago. Despite years of exhaustive searching, no one had ever found him. Belle warned Mal to avoid bringing it up.

Thankfully, the dance ended a moment later so Mal didn’t have to figure out how to respond. She and Aladdin bowed to each other. He offered his arm, smiling brightly again. Prince Aziz was still watching and frowning so familiarly. That had gone much better than she expected, but she still had a knot in her stomach.

Mal decided to walk around and mingle for the rest of the cocktail hour. She headed over to where Grumpy was, another strange ally in her new political career, and she resolved not to think anymore of-

Jay?

Mal did a double take. Her eyes did not deceive her. Evie, Carlos, and Jay were really walking at the edge of the museum hall in their best formalwear.

She wanted to scream. She instead smiled like nothing was wrong and calmly followed them out the main hall where the dinner was to an empty hallway. She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. 

“What are you guys doing here?” she hissed once they were safely out of earshot. The three turned around. Carlos and Jay were smiling like nothing was wrong. Only Evie looked the bit abashed.

“Gate-crashing,” Jay said.

“In our defense, we really thought we could get in without being spotted. Man, security is really tight at these things,” Carlos said.

“It’s a state dinner!” Mal said.

“Yeah, once we got past outfits, we’ve been completely improvising,” Evie said.

“Why?” Mal said, “Why tonight of all nights? If anyone sees you guys, if the sultana sees _Jay,_ we could have a diplomatic crisis.” Evil, Mal sounded like such a dork, and she hated it. She used to be the one leading the gate-crashing.

“We’ll make sure she doesn’t see him,” Carlos said.

“Do we need a repeat of the move-in day incident?” Mal said tersely.

“We wouldn’t risk it if it wasn’t important,” Jay said, “We came here to get back Evie’s mirror so we can figure out this whole branding thing.”

The mirror. Mal had almost brought it up earlier (she had told Evie she was crazy to put something that useful in the museum), but then Jay had said he wanted to drop the subject. Apparently, he’d changed his mind.

If they’d come up with this plan hours ago, she could have at least been prepared. Jay silently implored at her. He’d been all she had once, and he needed her now. She wasn’t going to turn him away for some stupid princess’ comfort.

“If anyone asks, you’re all waiters,” Mal said. She turned in the direction of the Hall of Magical Objects, her friends following.

“I look way too fabulous to be a waiter,” Evie said, “That would have been a much better disguise though.”

“How did you guys even get tuxedos?” Mal said.

“I made them a while ago. Figured we might have another formal event in our future,” Evie said.

“You boys look very handsome,” Mal said.

“Don’t be gross,” Carlos said.

Mal looked at Jay until he looked back, falling into step at her right side as he had done a hundred times.

“So,” she said, “Couldn’t wait for Fairy Godmother to figure it out?”

Jay shrugged, faking casual, “Just want it to be over with. Breaking and entering makes me nostalgic.”

They entered the hall and found Evie’s mirror, sitting in a case with a tiny placard.

“I’d hoped for a more exciting display. I sent pictures and everything,” Evie said. Mal cast an easy intangible spell, reached in, and grabbed it. She gave it to Evie, and she could feel the object’s magic awaken in its master’s hand.

“So how are we going to phrase this?” Carlos said, “What rhymes with protection spell?”

“It’s a detection spell,” Mal said, as she began to wrack her mind for the right phrasing. Detection, detection…find? Help me locate? No…bring back what was lost? That wasn’t quite right either. What no one wanted found? Discovered? What went missing?

Missing. She thought that word, and like racers off at the sound of a shotgun, three thoughts occurred to her at the exact same time.

  1. Agrabah had a missing prince who was their age.
  2. Jafar cast an anti-detection spell on Jay when he was too young to remember.
  3. The brother to the missing prince had Jay’s face.



No. _No._ It was impossible. There were a hundred reasons why this could not be possible.

But those three truths were right there. One of them had literally looked her in the face. Fairy Godmother had cast a tracking spell to find the baby prince. Around the same time, one of the world’s most powerful sorcerers put an anti-detection spell on a baby Jay. That sorcerer was the greatest enemy to that prince’s parents.

He should have been on the Isle then, but it was a near thing. Too near to discount. 

It occurred to Mal that she could just be conflating the Jay situation with the royal family’s arrival, but no, she realized, that was simply coincidence. They would have come to this conclusion eventually no matter what because it was the pure and simple truth.

“What’s wrong, Mal?’ Evie said.

“Jay, I know why he cast the ward,” Mal said, “It sounds impossible. But I think I’m right.”

Her thoughts roiled with more realizations. Jay had inherited no magical ability. Jafar kept him hidden away. He had no mother. It was a tiny Isle, and Mal had never even heard rumor of who birthed the son of one of its most famous villains.

“Mal, you’re scaring me,” Jay said, “Just spit it out.”

“I…I think you’re not Jafar’s son,” Mal said, “I think you’re Aladdin and Jasmine’s.”

Carlos stared. Evie gasped. Jay laughed.

“Or maybe I’m Ben’s twin brother, and I’m next in line for the throne,” Jay said, “Come on.”

“Sixteen years ago, the prince of Agrabah was kidnapped,” Evie said, “They couldn’t find him, wherever they looked. I guess no one looked on the Isle.”

“Jay _,_ ” Carlos said, putting it together quick as always, “The ward was meant to hide you.”

“Come on!” Jay said, “I was born on the Isle. You couldn’t sneak a person on to the Isle. It’s impossible.”

 _Yet Jafar hid you away for so long, like you were a secret,_ Jay’s brain annoyed.

Jafar had said it was because he would break something or make the customers mad. That made sense.

_But why was there that big, locked cabinet in the apartment? And why, even though it’s before you can remember, do you know you used to sleep in there?_

“He could have cast the spell when he took you, before you were on the Isle.”

Jay’s hand automatically went to the scar on his chest. On an infant, it would cover the whole torso. _It’s a vile thing to do to another human being._

“Jay,” Evie said gently, “Who did Jafar say is your mother?”

“Lots of kids on the Isle don’t have mothers,” Jay said, “It’s some whore. I mean, prostitute. That’s what he always said.”

_He called Princess Jasmine a whore too, on nights he ranted about what he lost. Rants about the whore Jasmine and Jay’s whore mother often bled into each other._

So Jafar was a misogynist. It didn’t prove anything.

“We can ask my mirror,” Evie said, holding it up.

“We don’t need to because this is a ridiculous idea,” Jay said, “Listen to yourselves. You’re talking crazy. Look, it’s sad these people lost their kid or whatever, but that doesn’t make me him.”

Jay was Jafar’s. He just was. Jay had used his name for street cred, took on his father’s grudges, followed his orders. If he wasn’t doing that for blood, Jay’s whole life was pointless.

“Don’t you want to be sure?” Mal said.

Jay was sure that Jafar taught him how to read and how to tell the worth of something. He was sure that when he was very small, he’d pulled his father’s shoes off when he passed out drunk in bed and crawled in next to him because it was the only time he could. Even when Jay didn’t see the man for days, he was always thinking of their next meeting. Inevitably, Jay always returned to his father out of blood and a perverted sense of duty. Now Jay hadn’t talked to him in months and really wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to again, but he thought of him. He’d never wished he was dead, which is more than most Isle kids could say of their parents. Sometimes, when Jay was lying in bed, he worried about that rickety shelf of TVs finally falling on Jafar when he was alone in the shop, with no one to pull him out of the way.

If his friends wouldn’t let this go, it didn’t matter because Jay knew the truth. He was Jafar’s son in ways that couldn’t be severed.

“Fine,” Jay said, “It’s just going to say no.”

“It probably will,” Carlos said, because it was clearly what Jay wanted to hear.

Evie held up her mirror.

_“Mirror, mirror, please can you say,_

_Who are the parents of this boy Jay?”_

Evie’s eyes widened, mouth parted open, and the world did a somersault off a cliff.

Fucking magic.

It was the woman who’d sneered at Jay those months ago and a man that looked nothing like his graying, scowling father. They were walking arm in arm, dressed in rich silks.

“That’s them,” Mal said, “Oh, Jay, I’m so sorry.”

Jay stared at the image again.

“Can you rephrase it?” he said.

“Sure,” Evie said, “Um… _Mirror, mirror, I can’t ask another,_

_Show me Jay’s father and mother.”_

The mirror shimmered and then showed the exact same image.

“Wait a second,” Carlos said, “We passed that painting.”

Their heads turned towards the entrance. There were footsteps, coming closer. 

“Ben’s giving them the tour. Fuck me, I forgot about the tour. They’re coming this way,” Mal said, “Jay, what do you want to do?”

“Are you ready to meet them?” Evie said.

“I-I don’t…” Jay stammered. He never stammered, not since he was a little kid, playing his father’s word games that he could never win.

The people from the mirror walked in the room.

He recognized one of them.

So, move-in day.

It was the semester after coronation. Twelve new Isle kids would be enrolled at Auradon Prep with more going to schools around the country, as a result of hours of vicious haggling and planning. Ben and Mal had mostly won, though they all still lost sleep over the kids left behind and the ones too little to come.

Jay wanted all kids off the Isle, but today, it would be a huge effort just to get twelve settled, especially amidst the general chaos of everyone else moving in.

Jay was walking back to the dorms with a basket full of clothes for the new boys. Obviously, most Isle kids didn’t own closets full of clothes, so Evie had told FG they should buy some stuff so they wouldn’t have to wear the same leathers over and over. Auradon was really big on fresh laundry, and it’d been embarrassing for the four of them when they realized how raggedy they looked next to everyone else’s pressed, expensive clothes.

So, Jay was walking through the quad, minding his business, when a pretty, older woman called out to him.

“Hello,” she said, “May I bother you for directions? I went to the apparel shop and cannot find my way back.”

“Sure,” he said, smiling. He was supposed to be on his best behavior today, a model VK, “Where are you going?”

“Briar Hall, the lower boys’ dormitory,” she said.

“I’m headed there too,” Jay said, “I can show you the way.”

“Thank you,” she said. They started walking.

“Are you a student in the high school?” she said, smiling politely. She had a slight accent, but Jay wasn’t sure if it was regional or just like the way rich people spoke here with all the consonants crisp and vowels luxuriously drawn out.

“I am,” he said.

“Do you enjoy it?” she said.

“It’s great,” he said because he was supposed to be very grateful.

“My son just started. He’s a bit nervous, but he won’t say it.” This was an odd detail to share with an utter stranger, he’d thought, but sort of sweet.

“I told him everyone is nervous when they start,” she said, “Weren’t you?”

“Of course,” he said. Nervous he wouldn’t get the wand and they’d all be sent back to the Isle.

“Are your parents here?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” he said.

“Too old for Mom and Dad to move you in?”

“My dad couldn’t make it,” he said. This random woman didn’t need his life story.

“Oh,” she said, pitying. He thought this would be the end of it, but she spoke again.

“You’re on a sports team?” she said, looking at the jersey he was wearing.

“Tourney,” he said, “Does your son play?”  
“No, he’s not very athletically inclined. I’m trying to get him to try something though, to be well-rounded.”

“If he ever wants to try it, he can find me for some pointers,” Jay said. That was the kind thing to say, wasn’t it? Ben would be so proud.

“That would be wonderful,” she said, and this clearly was the goal. She wanted to go back to the dorm and tell her kid she made him his first friend, an older guy to show him the ropes. It was that annoying unwanted helping hand thing people loved here.

“What’s your name?” she said.

“Jay,” he said.

“Jay,” she repeated, “My name is Jasmine. I assumed you were from home, but I cannot place your accent.”

“Where’s home?”

“Agrabah,” she said, and when she said the name, her own accent really revealed itself, the noble’s Arabic that Jay’s father spoke in, even after all these years.

Just his luck he had run into Princess fucking Jasmine. He stopped walking and looked down at the bin of clothes, at her fancy slippers and the brick walkway. He needed to get out of here, but he didn’t want to make a scene.

“I’m not from there,” he mumbled.

“Where are you from?” she said.

He really should lie. _Yes, Dad’s from Agrabah, but he moved to the capital to open his antique shop. He made a fortune which is how I afford this fancy school. Dad was nobility back home, actually, so I fit in just as well as your boy will_.

He should lie, but she already had his name and surely in a week, her son would report that the boy she met was the same lying villain his father was.

He should lie, and Jay could lie very well, but hiding always felt like cowardice, and for all his vices, he never liked his father’s methods of twisted truths and waiting under rocks to strike.

“I’m from the Isle of the Lost,” he said, sticking his chin up.

“Oh,” the princess said, and if snobbery could turn into steel, she’d have enough for a suit of armor.

“Problem?” Jay spits because even when he didn’t have two crumbs to rub together, he had pride. He wasn’t a minion’s second son or some other footnote’s spawn. His father had ruled a kingdom and commanded omnipotent power. Jay could eat garbage, but he could also claim inheritance to that, as he would remind anyone who forgot.

“You should respect your elders,” she said, all that sweet, motherly demeanor gone.

“My apologies,” he said, smiling in a way that only the very naïve would mistake for kindness.

Princess Jasmine was not very naïve. She was also a bit petty and quick enough to figure out who Jay came from.

“How is Jafar then?” she said.

“I wouldn’t know,” Jay said, honestly. Jay would go to his grave with ill-gotten pride, but he didn’t even want this lady to think he cared for his father.

“He lives on this faraway island, you see, and well, they have a very inconvenient ferry schedule,” Jay added because he was a little shit.

“Well,” she said, “You must take entirely after your mother. You don’t look like him at all.”

“Don’t talk about my mother,” he snapped. How could this woman presume to know a single thing about her, when Jay knew nothing at all?

“I think I can find the rest of the way on my own,” she said, eyes narrowed.

“Nice meeting you,” he said petulantly.

“Stay away from my son,” she said in a lowered voice before turning and walking away.

Jay had run to find his friends and tell him he’d fucked up but also, he didn’t feel that sorry because he didn’t owe a thing to some stupid sultana who knew nothing about his life. He’d lost that nerve quickly though and later freaked out for hours, pacing back and forth around their room until the carpet had treads because _he was going to get sent back, of course, this is the kind of thing they send you back for, and who could help him then?_

“Mal, I didn’t know our friends were here tonight,” Ben said as he walked into the hall.

The room was silent. Jay stared at his parents. They stared at Mal. Mal stared at him.

“I think we need to talk in private,” Mal said. She stepped towards Ben, blocking Jay just a bit, like a shield. It was a move he’d done for her a hundred times.

“Is something wrong?” Ben said. Try everything, pal.

“Perhaps we should return to the party,” the man said. Aladdin. The enemy. He looked to be in his forties. His hair was thick and had some gray in the black. He had a beard too, a full one, not a goatee. He’d spoken gently, like whatever the problem was, he really wanted to give these four strange kids their space to work it out.

“Jay?” Mal said, quietly but urgently, to him. He didn’t know the signal, didn’t have the play.

“We can catch up after,” the woman said. Jay had never had a mother. Jafar had so many gross ways to describe Jasmine. Jay wished he could forget all of them right now, but the vitriol was instead playing on repeat in his head.

As he stared and perhaps because of it, Jasmine and Aladdin started retreating out of the room, but Jay wasn’t ready to stop looking at them.

“Wait,” he said, “Don’t go.”

They paused and looked him over.

“Yes, son?” Aladdin said.

Jay barked a laugh. Of all the phrasing he could have chosen.

“Jay, I think we should tell them,” Mal said, whirling around to grab his hand and lean in close so only he could hear her whisper, “I know it’s all wrong. But they need to know. It will all be okay.”

Jay couldn’t speak though or even nod to Mal so she could speak for him. He felt glued in place, only able to move his eyes from Mal back to Aladdin and Jasmine.

“It’s you,” Jasmine said, “From move-in day. I’ve wanted to apologize for some time now. I treated you very unfairly.”

Jay had received so few apologies and never any from royalty. He remembered how she’d gone from smiles to pure hatred in a second.

His mother had hated him. She may be sorry now, but there would always be a part of her that had held him with utter contempt.

“Jafar’s son?” the man said quietly to his wife.

Jay flinched. An hour ago, he would have stood up proudly and said _yeah, you got a problem with that?_ But now, even though he wasn’t even really convinced, hearing that just felt wrong.

_Were you ever his son? Are you still a son if the father doesn’t notice you’re alive?_

“I don’t know,” Jay said. The words sounded like they were coming out of someone else’s mouth.

“Jay? I’m confused,” Ben said.

“We don’t think Jay is Jafar’s son,” Mal said slowly.

“We asked my magic mirror to show us Jay’s parents,” Evie said. She held it up to show Aladdin and Jasmine, exactly as they looked now, though not an exact reflection. Ben gasped.

“I am not sure what’s going on here,” Jasmine said.

 _I’m not ready to be sure,_ Jay’s brain was screaming, but she still stood, silently staring.

“Do you really think- _Ben, no, stop, don’t say it, you can’t take it back-_ Jay is the lost prince of Agrabah?”

Mal nodded, still standing in front of Jay. Aladdin and Jasmine looked at him again, but now, with a pleading question. Nobody had ever asked this much of him, never asked him for something he couldn’t provide with strength or sticky fingers. What they wanted was simply him, all of him, but there was so much of him that was wicked, guilty, and Jafar _._ Jay had never wanted to be pulled out, shoved under bright lights, and stared at like this.

“It can’t be…” Aladdin said.

“Ali?” Jasmine said. Was that his name? It sounded so oddly formal, not a name you could scream in a fight or say between gasping laughs.

Jasmine and Aladdin were both about to cry, and it was so unnerving to see that composure gone in a flash.

 _Tears are for the weak,_ a snarling voice had said to a boy who just wanted to go outside.

“Is it really you?” Jasmine said.

She spoke so calmly, as if the earth wasn’t still shaking beneath them. She took a step forward, and Jay took a step back.

“I don’t- this is too much,” Jay said, “I said I didn’t want to _know_.”

“It’s okay!” Carlos said.

“No, it’s not,” Jay snapped. His eyes went to everyone in the room, all staring at him with so much concern. They were all coming closer, closing in. Jay looked around. The words “emergency” and “exit” never felt so fitting.

Like a thief on the run, he ran for the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's Act I! I remember this theory being pretty popular when the first movie came out and was surprised there weren't more fics like this. If you really like this AU, I rec AnagramRMX's similar series.


	4. Chapter 4

Carlos sprinted after Jay without a second thought. He heard Evie and Mal following behind him and Mal saying something to the royals before she did. He couldn’t hear what, he was too far down the stairwell.

Carlos couldn’t remember the last time he had run like this, except it was probably because someone was trying to kill him. He needed to get back in shape. Jay was so fucking fast.

Alarms rang from below. A door slammed. Jay must have opened a fire exit.

By the time Carlos got to the ground floor and pushed open the door, Jay was nowhere to be seen. It was dark outside. He was on the side of the building facing the surrounding lawn and a distant line of waiting limousines. 

“Jay! Carlos!” Carlos could hear Evie and Mal almost caught up with him.

“I lost him!” Carlos said.

“Shit,” Mal said. She was red in the face and was holding up the skirt of her dress. Her shoes had been abandoned.

“Maybe he went back to the dorms?” he said. That’s where Carlos would go in a personal crisis, somewhere safe with a dog and a door that locks.

“Let’s ask,” Evie said. She pulled out the mirror. If Carlos wasn’t so worried about Jay, he’d tease her about how casually she’d stolen it back from the museum.

“Mirror, mirror, you know the way, point me to my friend Jay,” she said, “This way!”

They ran in every direction the mirror took them, running through the night around the compound of government buildings that made up downtown Auradon City. They were directed towards the coast, and really, they shouldn’t have needed the mirror at all. It was so obvious where Jay would have run to.

They found him standing at the edge of Auradon’s coast, facing the Isle. The night was foggy, but Carlos thought he could just make out the lights on the docks. The magic bridge wasn’t up so Jay’s next step would plunge him into the black waters below.

“Jay?” Carlos said. Jay turned around. He might have been crying, but it was hard to tell at night.

“I need to go there. I need to look him in the face and hear him say it,” Jay said. His white eyes stood out in the dark, wide and desperate.

“You can’t face him. Not like this,” Mal said, “Let’s just go home.”

“That is home!” Jay yelled, gesturing at the Isle, “It was. It didn’t have to be. All that shit I went through, eating garbage and sleeping outside, it didn’t have to be like that! He let me think I was his son. He let me love- FUCK!”

Carlos had never seen Jay like this, unable to hide his hurt. Through starving and stabbing, Jay had always found a way to laugh it off, fight his way out, or act so cocky you forgot he could even get hurt.

“I have to hear him say it’s true,” Jay said, “Then I’ll kill him.”

No hyperbole, no kidding. It was a promise.

It was taking all of Carlos’ willpower not to flee right now. Because when people got angry and screamed, his instincts told him he was going to pay for it.

And if he couldn’t run, he tried to diffuse. That almost always failed with his mother, but for henchmen or bullies, he could distract or joke his way out. 

Saying _“murder wouldn’t be very princely of you”_ would not go over well right now.

Carlos reminded himself that his instincts were wrong here. Jay would _never_ hurt him. Jay had every right to be mad right now. It didn’t mean Carlos wasn’t safe near him.

On the Isle, you could never speak aloud the fact that you cared about someone, but they had all found other ways to say it, Jay especially. It took the form of “accidentally” leaving food in front of Carlos and jumping between him and knives in fights. This was a rare instance where Carlos needed to reverse their roles and take care of him.

“You can’t go there, Jay,” Carlos said slowly.

Jay’s eyes wheeled on Carlos, wild like a hurt animal, “I can do whatever I want.”

“No, you can’t. Unless you just got really good at swimming and sorcery.”

“Fuck you,” he said, “This has nothing to do with you.”

“Yes, it does because we,” Carlos gestured at all of them, “are family. Nothing’s changed about that.”

“Jay, if you go on the Isle like this, someone is going to jump you before you even get to Jafar’s shop,” Evie said.

“She’s right,” Carlos said, “You don’t need Jafar to tell you this. He’ll probably just lie again anyway. He’s stuck on that Isle, and you’re here. You got off. His plan failed.”

Carlos inched towards Jay, holding out a hand. Jay stared at it.

“Come on, Jay. Let’s just go to our room and figure this out.”

“I don’t even need to talk to him. I want to kill him,” Jay said, but Carlos could hear the fight going out of his voice.

“You told me a while back when I was going crazy here that if I wanted to go back, you’d drive me yourself,” Mal said, “I’ll do the same for you. But you have to give it a day.”

That was what finally got Jay to nod. It was a silent walk back to the dorms, but halfway there, Jay started walking close enough to Carlos to brush shoulders. It was an old habit from the Isle, the subtle way they affirmed that they were in this together.

That night, they all shared the same bed. It was like old times in the loft of their hangout. Always just the four of them; none of the gang’s underlings allowed. They did it on good nights like when they won a fight and would drink and talk until they passed out, and they did it on bad nights when Carlos needed to be kept far away from his mother. Carlos was still weird about being touched in most situations, but this ritual had always helped him sleep. Something about the warmth of his friends’ skin on his helped his brain accept that he was somewhere safe, far from bear traps and howling mothers.

Tonight, they formed a protective circle around Jay, long limbs splayed in four

different directions. Carlos fit right under Jay’s arm, and Dude fit right under Carlos’. Evie was on his other side, head resting on Mal’s chest. Mal always fell asleep last, keeping watch over her crew. Sometime after Evie and Jay were out, Ben quietly padded into the room and curled up along the foot of the bed. This bed was bigger than the lumpy mattress from their warehouse, but they were bigger now too, elbowing and bumping against each other more than they used to.

He woke up in the early morning to the sound of someone moving around. He opened his eyes and saw it was Jay in just his shorts, lacing up his sneakers.

“Hey, man,” Carlos said, “Where ya goin’?”

“For a run,” he said.

“You swear?” he said.

Jay rolled his eyes, “Don’t be an idiot.”

Carlos knew Jay’s tells and saw none of them. He left without either a knife or a phone, so it was probably safe to say he wasn’t going to face his father.

No. To face Jafar. That would take some getting used to.

Carlos got up, got dressed, and fed Dude. The others woke up shortly after. Evie went to wash her face. Mal was sitting up but hadn’t left the bed yet. Ben sprung out of bed and immediately volunteered to get breakfast, anxious to help and fix.

“Wait,” Mal said, “We need to know what went down after we went after Jay. What happened with Jasmine and Aladdin?”

“Right, you wouldn’t have heard. We set the museum on fire.”  
“What?”

“It was Aladdin’s idea. The dinner was still going on, and they wanted to leave, obviously. When the fire alarm went off, Aladdin thought there might as well be a fire. It was a little one, just enough to actually warrant an evacuation. We said everyone should go home due to an abundance of caution.”

“That was smart,” Mal said, “How did they feel?”

“They were distraught, shocked. Jasmine felt very guilty about their prior run-in. They think Jay hates them and also seem to believe he has every right to.”

“Jay doesn’t hate anyone,” Carlos said, softly. It was a well-guarded secret, but true. Jay didn’t have it in him.

“They wanted to go looking for Jay. I told them you were probably the only people he would talk to right away. I also mentioned the whole ward thing that led you guys to the museum. I promised to touch base with them in the morning.”

“We can do that after we gauge Jay,” Mal said, “I don’t even know how to gauge a normal reaction to this. I mean, what the fuck, right?”

“It’s unbelievable,” Carlos said, “It feels like it has to be right, with the spell and the mirror, but…”

“I’ve asked the mirror in every different phrasing I can. It’s real,” Evie said, “What are we going to do now? These people are his parents, but we don’t know anything about them. Jay’s whole life is about to change.”

“Not his whole life. He’s still Jay,” Carlos said.

“But this isn’t going to go away,” Mal said, “They’ve been looking for him for sixteen years. I’m surprised the Agrabah army hasn’t air-lifted him out of here yet.”

Carlos panicked a little at that thought, “They can’t do that, can they?”

“Jay still goes to school here. They can’t,” Evie said, but she didn’t sound so confident.

“They have parental rights and diplomatic immunity,” Ben said, “But I think they have the common sense to know kidnapping a teenage boy raised on the Isle wouldn’t go over well.”

The door opened, and Jay came in, sweaty from his run. They all turned to look at him.

“I bet I can guess what you’re talking about,” he said.

“Hey, bro,” Carlos said. He tried to sound casual, but it came out like coddling.

“How was your run?” Evie said.

Jay looked physically repulsed by their concern.

“I’m taking a shower,” he said.

As soon as the water started, Mal said, “Great job back there, guys.”

“Well, how are we supposed to handle this?” Evie said.

“One step at a time,” Ben said, with the confidence of a king. 

Jay stepped out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist, Jafar’s magic brand visible. He started getting dressed, avoiding their eye contact.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” Jay said

“Jay, we need to face this,” Mal said, firmly but kindly.

“It’s not like I can change the last sixteen years.”

“You can still have a relationship with them, if you want,” Evie said, “It sounds like they really want to have one with you.”

“We don’t even know them. Also, royalty tends to hate Isle kids.”

“But you’re not- “ Carlos said, and Jay shot him a look before Carlos could finish that sentence.

“We’ve made a lot of people come around to us already,” Carlos said, “They probably don’t even care where we’re from.”

“They cared two months ago. She told me to stay away from her son, like I was- she knew where I was from and that was all she needed to hate me. And I was doing everything right.”

“The princess expressed a lot of remorse over that,” Ben said, “She apologized before she even knew who you were.”

“That’s a good sign. Better than a lot of people in her position would do,” Mal said, “Look, they thought their kid was dead, and now he’s alive, and only someone really fucked up wouldn’t be happy about that.”

“I’m not _their_ kid though,” Jay said, “Like, blood isn’t everything, right?”  
“Of course not,” Carlos said, “Thank the gods it’s not.”

“But…” Evie said, “They looked so happy to see you last night. I think it means something to them.”

“They’ve been looking for you for sixteen years,” Ben said, “They do want to meet you. They wanted to last night. They seem like good people. Isn’t that…” Ben didn’t finish the sentence, but Carlos suspected it was going to end along the lines of “better than what you had before”.

“We need to parley with them,” Mal said, “We’ll get their expectations and let them know ours.”

“What are ours?” Carlos said.

“Jay?” Mal said, “What do you want?”

“To forget last night ever happened,” he said.

“Stability,” Evie said, “For things to change as little as possible for now. Jay stays at Auradon Prep with us.”

“Yeah, obviously. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Jay’s their firstborn. He’s in the line of succession,” Ben said, “I imagine they’ll need to address that at some point.”

Jay snorted, “No one is going to want me to rule a country. I can barely rule myself.”

“We’ll tell them all that needs to be considered later. We need to be able to talk as people, not titles,” Mal said.

“Also, no one else needs to know about this,” Jay said, “Especially not the press. I don’t want you and Ben’s life.”

“Confidentiality, right,” Mal said, “Those are our terms. What do we offer them in exchange? I don’t think they’re going to just go back to their lives in Agrabah.”

“Maybe we can meet. If they want to,” Jay said, “But we should triple-check. I don’t trust magic and as for any resemblance, I don’t know. They might just be looking for something that’s not there. Let’s just confirm before anyone gets their hopes up.”

“There’s DNA tests. I think we can find a way to do them anonymously,” Carlos said.

“Okay,” Jay said, “So if we’re going to parley, what do we do? Tell them to meet us on a roof at midnight?”

“Or we could just go to their house,” Mal said.

“I’m not ready for that,” Jay said.

“That’s okay,” Evie said, “One of us will go.”

“I think it should be Mal,” Carlos said, “She’s good at talking to royals. She’s got the most parley experience.”

“This is a sensitive thing. I’m not really touchy-feely,” Mal said.

“Which means you won’t get steamrolled. You’re the right choice,” Evie said.

“Will you, Mal?” Jay said, “I trust you.”

“Okay,” she said softly, “Of course, I’ll go, if that’s what you want. I’d take a knife for you, street rat. All of you.”

Mal left after breakfast, taking her bike to the street of fancy townhouses which housed all the embassies.

If they were still on the Isle and Jay had conflict with a wharf rat or one of Ginny’s crew, it would fall to Mal to meet with that other gang’s leader and fight them, if it came down to it. It was how a queen protected her own.

Today, she had the same goal (sort of. Fighting the rulers of Agrabah would probably create more problems than it solved), but she would have to use her diplomatic skills as well. It wasn’t so different from her original intentions in meeting with them, when she was going to push them to support Mal’s pro-Isle agenda. Instead of all the Isle kids, it was only Jay’s interests Mal had to represent, to see how they could work together for a common goal.

Somehow, this was even scarier than stumping for the whole Isle. Mal loved Jay so much, and he was placing his trust in her in the most vulnerable moment of his life. 

After she arrived at the embassy, Mal was taken to what appeared to be the princess’ own office. It was decorated with paintings of desert oases and family photographs. She didn’t have to wait long before Jasmine and Aladdin rushed in.

“Mal, it’s good to see you again,” Jasmine said, “Is Ali alright?”

“He’s okay,” Mal said, “He’s calmed down since last night. He was mostly just angry at Jafar.”

“If I ever get my hands close enough to that man’s neck…” Jasmine said. Mal didn’t even know princesses could threaten.

“There’s a line already forming,” Mal said.

“So, what brings you by?” Aladdin said.

“I have come to speak on Jay’s behalf,” Mal said. Aladdin and Jasmine shared a look.

“It’s very nice of you to come all this way, but this is really more of a family issue,” Jasmine said.

“I _am_ family,” Mal said, too firmly. She softened, “I am part of Jay’s Isle family, and I was chosen to speak for him.”

“Jay sent you?” Aladdin said. Mal nodded.

“What did you want to speak to us about then?” Jasmine asked.

“We want to know what your expectations are from here.”

“We’re just so relieved he’s alive and okay,” Aladdin said, “We haven’t thought much beyond that.”

“We want to get to know him,” Jasmine said, “I know we’re stepping in late. He can’t just be taken away from his friends and everything he knows. He’d probably resent us if we tried. But we’re his family. We want to be a part of his life.”  
“Before anything, Jay wants a DNA test,” Mal said, “From the way you’re speaking, it seems like you don’t feel you need a confirmation.”

“We talked for a long time last night,” Jasmine said, “Jafar was already on the Isle when Ali went missing, but it wasn’t a large difference of time. He still had allies in the kingdom. He hates us. This story makes a lot of sense. Perhaps one could accuse us of wanting it too much, but when I looked at him, it felt right. A mother knows.”

“So, you want Jay to be your son?” Mal said, “He’s an Isle kid.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Jasmine said, “If he’s alive, it doesn’t matter.”

“It mattered the last time you met,” Mal said.

Jasmine flinched, “I was wrong. I would have been wrong even if he wasn’t Ali. I will regret that day forever.”

“He was mad about getting the boot the other afternoon as well,” Mal said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your security team told the school that Jay should make himself scarce when you were visiting campus,” Mal said.

“We did not ask them to do that,” Jasmine said, “I will personally apologize to Ali and have a word with our security. They tend to get overzealous when we travel. We lost Ali on a state trip.”

“He can’t be fans of us, I imagine, before or after he came here,” Aladdin said.

“I wasn’t mentioning it to put you off,” Mal said, “Jay’s my oldest friend. We all love him so much. He’s also not great at the emotional stuff. If you two really want to get to know Jay, I feel I should warn you about a few things.”

“Like what?” Jasmine asked.

“Life on the Isle was…” _Awful. Abusive. Inhumane._ “Rough. We may seem like we fit in here now, but we were shaped by a place where getting a meal or a place to sleep was a struggle. Kids had to fend for themselves. Jay and I met on the streets. So, if you’re expecting Jay to just become a perfect, polite prince now that he knows you’re his parents, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.”

“I hate that we couldn’t protect him from that,” Jasmine said. The naked emotion in her voice would have been refreshing to hear from a royal if it wasn’t all so sad.

“All of you kids deserved our protection,” Aladdin said, “We would never hold the Isle against him. I understand if he holds it against us. We deserve it.”

“So, do you have any expectations yet with the whole prince thing?” Mal said.

“Speaking as a head of state,” Jasmine said, “If Ali wants the mantle of Crown Prince, it is his birthright, along with all the duties and privileges that entails. Hopefully, we have many years before he would ever have to take the throne, but if he refuses, I have two other heirs in line so it wouldn’t be a crisis. Speaking as a mother, I would never force that expectation on him, but I would never deny it either.”

“And speaking as a father, I care more about getting to know him as a person right now than as a future ruler of the kingdom,” Aladdin said, “We love him no matter what he chooses.”

Mal nodded. Of course, they sounded sincere, but Mal wanted more. _Do you promise to never judge him? To fight for him? To never turn my brash right-hand man into something he’s not?_

Mal asked a more practical question instead, “While Jay is figuring all this out, we think it’s best to keep the circle of people who know about this small. Rumors fly here. Speaking from experience, students will leak stories. I imagine your kingdom’s press keeps the royal family under intense scrutiny as well.”

“We agree. The only people who know right now are us and the head of our royal guard, who we trust completely. We plan to tell Aziz tonight and maybe more family when we go home, but only the closest confidantes,” Aladdin said.

“If this got out, it’d be the tabloid story of the century,” Jasmine said.

“We have me, Evie, Carlos, and Ben. Ben suggested telling Fairy Godmother since she knew about the ward and in case Jay needs to take some time off school,” Mal said.

“I would trust her,” Jasmine said, “She tried to help when…when he went missing. We would need to make an announcement eventually, especially if we predict a leak coming. We want to be in control of the narrative.”

“Right. If you are to start spending more time with Jay, is there a way to keep people from noticing?” Mal said, “Agrabah is kind of a trek.”

“We have some magical help on the transportation department, so if we use that, it may take a while for people to catch on that we’ve been going back and forth,” Aladdin said.

“We will have the rest of negotiations with the crown to cover us for a bit. We can also say Aziz has been homesick. It’s his first year here, after all. That will buy some time, perhaps until the end of the school year.”

Mal nodded, “Okay. I can take this back to the group. Can I get your numbers? I don’t know if Jay’s ready for you to have his, but I’ll give you the rest of ours. If you want to ask us anything about Jay, his schedule, what he might be okay with going forward, reach out anytime. Carlos is there for tourney practice and nights. I’m sure Evie will reach out immediately. She’s the friendly one.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jasmine said, “When though do you think we can see Ali, or Jay, again?”

“I think Jay would say after the DNA test is done,” Mal said.  
Jasmine nodded, “Right. We can get someone who won’t ask questions. I’ll follow up with you.”

“Great,” Mal said, “And after that, I’ll have to ask Jay. Maybe you could come to one of his games?”

“Whenever he’s ready, we will be there. We’ll bring Aziz so no one suspects.”

“Great. I’ll tell him that,” Mal said, “Is Aziz going to be okay with all this? He’s just a kid.”

“I think so,” Aladdin said, “He’ll probably try to act very grown-up about it all, which is what he’s done since going away. But he also calls us every night.”

“I like how much he calls. I miss him,” Jasmine said. She and Aladdin shared a fond look. Mal felt a hitch in her throat.

“Before I go, I brought you something,” Mal said. She reached into her backpack and carefully pulled out the old piece of paper.

“I found this. Cameras were a luxury on the Isle, so I don’t have any real photos of us as kids, but.” She handed it over. It was an old math quiz. On the back, she had drawn Jay, smiling mischievously. She’d done it while bored in class and thought the likeness good enough to keep.

Jasmine took the paper gently and asked softly, “How old?”

“I think eleven,” Mal said.

“Thank you,” Aladdin said, “This is…thank you.”

“One moment,” Jasmine said. She handed the paper to her husband with fragile hands and walked over to her desk. She picked up a frame and pulled a photo out and then did the same thing with another.

“Could you please give these to him?” she said, handing over the two photos. The first was of a family photo of Jasmine, Aladdin, Aziz, and a little girl.

“That’s our daughter, Dalia. She’s six,” Aladdin said.

The second photo was of a younger Aladdin and Jasmine. They were holding a squirming baby, laughing with pure bliss. Even the baby looked happy, like he could never question that he was adored.

Back in Carlos and Jay’s room, the five of them sat in a circle in front of the fireplace, except for Jay who broke formation to stare into the fire. Carlos watched him warily.

“So, Mal, how did it go?” Evie said.

“Good. I asked their expectations, and all they really want is to get to know Jay. The whole prince thing is optional. They’re willing to meet you where you’re at.”

“That’s good,” Carlos said. Jay stayed silent.

“So, what were they like as people?” Evie said.

“They’re very nice,” Mal said. Her eyes kept going to Jay, his kept going to the fire, “Jasmine is strong. She acts like a leader, in a good way. Aladdin is more laidback. Back at the dinner, we had to dance together, and he was making corny jokes to embarrass Aziz.”

“Dad jokes,” Ben said.

“They just seem to care about you a lot, Jay,” Mal said. Her voice broke a little when she said that. She didn’t have the right to be upset about this, but she was. Mal had never seen two parents adore their child like that, up close and with no wall up. The fact that that child was Jay, her Jay, and he’d been denied from even knowing that could exist. It was just so _sad_.

“They gave me pictures,” Mal said. She pulled them out of her backpack and handed them to Jay. He hesitated a second before taking them. While he looked at them, Mal could watch him work to wrest control of his face back from whatever emotion attempted to break through.

“Jay, you were the cutest baby I’ve ever seen!” Evie said, “Look at those cheeks!”

“That’s one good-looking family,” Carlos said, “You have a little sister.”

“What’s her name?” Jay said, his dark eyes turning on Mal, a little wet.

“Dalia,” she said. He gave a quick, jerky nod.

“They still might not be,” he said. He sounded like he would be let down if they were.

The next day, Aladdin texted Mal the address of a doctor who would swab Jay’s cheek and not ask questions. Evie walked with him to the office. They’d all agreed to keep an eye on Jay for a bit. Poor Carlos had gotten a stitch in his side from running with him this morning.

Evie was reminded of when Jay would walk her home to guard her from any lechers. That was how they first got to know each other. He would fill her in on the gang politics when she was a newbie, and she’d share gossip he heard in the market.

“Mal said it’s just a cheek swab, right?” Jay said.

“Yes,” Evie said, “It’s just as accurate as a blood test.”

“I don’t like needles.”

“I know. I remember getting vaccinated next to you.”

“Those annoying doctors were all like ‘babies get these and whine less.’ Like, you guys stick needles in babies, but the Isle is bad?” he said. Evie laughed.

“How are you feeling about all this?” she said.

“Eves,” he said, “Are you really asking me that?”  
“Babies do whine less than you. Yes, I’m really asking. I’m your concerned friend who loves you. Deal with it.”

“Can’t we have a good old-fashioned spar? If we’re feeling really upset, we’ll just add knives. Life used to be so much easier.”

“Not really,” Evie said. Then, everything was hidden beneath power games and shows of strength. For example, dating. If Evie liked someone, maybe she could get Mal to start a fight with their gang, so that Evie had a reason to see them and be on their turf without her mom finding out or Evil forbid, someone suspecting Evie of having an actual feeling. In Auradon, theoretically, Evie could just ask someone out. It was so easy, right?

“I just don’t know what to do if it’s real,” Jay said quietly, “It’s not like I really need any more family.”

“It could be nice though.”

“Or it could be a big disappointment,” he said, “Auradon people tended to come in meaning well and then fuck things up.”

“Maybe they’re two of the good ones. Like Ben. If they made you, they’re probably great.”

“How many parents do we know that can we say that for?”

“They’re different,” she said, “I texted Jasmine to introduce myself.”

“What did she say?”

“Nice to meet you, smiley face.”

“Woah, a smiley face? I’m totally on board now.”

“Even Mal approved of them.”

“Mal did approve,” he conceded, “But she’s such a softy these days.”

“I know we’ve all learned to survive without good, caring parents by now, but it still might be nice to know what that feels like,” Evie said.

“We’re here,” Jay said, stopping in front of a brick building. Evie saw the doctor’s name on a plaque next to the door.

“No one else should be in there but the doctor. It should only take a minute. We’ll know the results by tonight,” Evie said.

“I know,” he said.   
“Right,” she said, “Do you want me to come in with you?”

“I got it. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she said, “I’ll be here.”

Jay nodded and walked inside.

Now, alone with her thoughts, Evie found it hard not to think again of-

“Uma?” Evie’s eyes weren’t deceiving her. Uma was standing on the corner of the cross-street. Evie walked down so she was in her path.

“Hey,” Evie said.

“Princess,” Uma said, offering not even a taunting smile, “I thought you’d come say hello after your heist.”

“I wanted to,” Evie said, “Things got kind of crazy.”

“It’s whatever.”

“What brings you into town?” Evie said, ignoring the brush-off.

“Work,” Uma said, “Waiting tables.”

“I didn’t know you had a job,” Evie said.

“Don’t laugh,” Uma said, “That school stipend barely covers shit, and not everyone can mooch off the king.”

“I wouldn’t laugh,” Evie said, “I wouldn’t be dressing this well if not for overcharging princesses for their clothing alterations.”

“We’re here, but we’re not really one of them,” Uma said, smiling humorlessly.

“No, we’re not,” Evie said. If they were really Auradon girls, they wouldn’t be sneaking around, talking without saying anything because Evie only ever learned how to be pursued and possessed and both were taught that feeling anything was a sign of weakness and weakness gets you killed.

“So…you doing anything tonight?” Uma said.

Evie’s heart soared then sunk, remembering Jay’s results would come back tonight.

“So that’s a no?” Uma said, reading the frown on Evie’s face.

“My friends have this thing,” Evie said, “I can’t really say. It’s a weird time.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Uma said, shrugging, “We’re just messing around.”

Evie couldn’t say how much that assessment disappointed her.

“Hey?” Evie turned and saw Jay had returned.

“I’ll be going,” Uma said.

“Later,” Evie said. Uma nodded, turned, and walked off. 

“What was she doing here?” Jay said suspicious, “Did she ask what we were doing?”

“Nope,” Evie said, “Everything good?”

Jay nodded and shrugged. Evie wound her arm through his.

“And now we wait,” Evie said.

They didn’t have to wait long. Jay assumed that a little royal privilege made the whole process faster, the same way Ben never had to wait in line at the coffee shop. It was weird for that kind of privilege to now be extended to Jay.

When his phone started ringing, he stepped into the bathroom. He hadn’t wanted to watch his friends watch him with those big concerned eyes. The doctor spoke neutrally and briskly, like he had a hundred more life-altering phone calls to make tonight.

He thought he’d feel different once the news was confirmed. Like, a stranger, or whatever. Or that he’d have a whole new perspective on the world and no longer feel like an intruder in his own bathroom because of its porcelain tub and golden faucets.

Even though he was very sure he had really heard the doctor say this was real, it still didn’t feel like anything had changed.

A soft knock came on the door, “Jay?”

Jay wasn’t going to hide in the bathroom. He opened the door and just nodded to his friends. They were mirroring him, accepting this information quietly instead of launching into group therapy. It was a relief.

“I guess they probably want to see me or something,” he said.

“Yeah, they already texted me,” Mal said, “What do you want to do?”

“I guess meet them?” he said, “I should be happier. I mean, Jafar’s not my dad anymore. Whoopee. This is a good thing, right?”

“Yeah,” Carlos said, “I mean, even before he was a kidnapper, he was a bastard. Now, he’s out of your life for good.”

“And you have a dad and a mom who really want to get to know you,” Evie said, “A brother and sister too. All really good things.”

“Right,” he said, “So, let’s do it.”

“I’ll tell them about your game this week,” Mal said, “That’s a public setting. Less pressure.”

“I mean, we’re going to be up against Arendelle so some pressure,” he said. Just a few days ago, that had been the most stressful thing on his horizon.

“Do you want me to suggest another time?” Mal said.

“No, that works,” he said. He didn’t want to have to come up with another venue. He couldn’t be alone with those looks again like they’d worn at the museum, so happy and terrified at the same time.

Jay sent the girls and Ben home. Really, he liked when they all shared a room, but if he said they should stay over again, they’d think something was wrong.

He regretted it a few hours later when he couldn’t sleep. Jay was a pro at sleeping. He could sleep outside, in the rain, with a growling stomach. He thought about running around for a while to wear himself out. He’d done that on a lot of nights since Ben’s coronation, when for the first time in his life he wasn’t constantly working so hard to survive all the time. His body just didn’t know how to rest.

He didn’t even bother with a shirt, just put on his sneakers and snuck quietly out the door.

It would have been a flawless escape if not for the person he tripped over in the hallway.

_Intruder. A sneak attack._ Jay brought up his fists and got ready to swing. He looked down at the threat.

And then he looked down some more because it was just a kid. A middle-schooler sitting in fancy silk pajamas. He had been sitting on the ground and was now looking up at Jay with wide eyes.

Jay lowered his fists.

“Uh, what’s up?” Jay said, keeping his voice low.

“I fell asleep,” the kid said.

“In front of my door?”  
The kid stared at him before saying “Do you know who I am?”

“Lost?” Jay said.

“I’m Aziz,” he said, “And you’re Ali.”

“Oh, Evil,” Jay swore under his breath.

Jay had been at the same campus with his freaking brother for months and hadn’t even known. Mal said she’d put the truth together by how similar they looked yet Jay only saw differences. Aziz’s bones didn’t stick out of his skin. His hair was short and neatly cut. There was something guileless in his face that Jay lost at half his age, lest someone take advantage of it.

“Hey,” Jay said, “Nice to meet you, I guess?”

Aziz just stared at him.

“I didn’t know if it was real at first,” Aziz said finally.

“Me neither,” Jay said, “Pretty crazy.”

“I wanted them to do the test too. I don’t trust most magical objects. You can’t see their brains.”

Jay snorted. He agreed but wouldn’t put it quite that way.

“I don’t like magic that much either,” Jay said.

“But it is really you,” Aziz said, “Mom and Dad thought you were dead. They said they would always hope, but they really thought you were gone.”

“Well. I’m not?” he said. What do you say to that? _Sorry, man, I would have sent a postcard if I knew._

“I can’t believe you’re one of them,” he said, his noble nose scrunched in distaste.

Jay didn’t have to ask what _them_ meant. It was students giving him a wide berth in the halls or when he laughed too loud and people flinched. It was the suspicious looks and overheard comments about sending those kids back to where they came from.

Aziz was young. Maybe he just repeated the shit he heard from his other royal pals. But the old contempt stung in a new way coming from the mouth of your own flesh and blood.

“Believe it,” Jay said with a cruel smile he learned from Jafar. Aziz looked scared, his face probably a close match to Jay’s when Jafar wore this look.

“Go back to bed, kid,” he said in the same tone. Aziz froze for a second before he turned and ran down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Imperfect was better than nothing.

That was a hard-won lesson for Evie. Perfection was the bar, in her courtesies and witchcraft lessons but mostly in her looks. Mother didn’t accept loose hairs and smudged lipstick. Mother said if she possessed enough beauty, she would not need personality or poisoned apples, so that was the side which could never be let down.

Perfection bored her. Evie was constantly seeking the next area of knowledge to conquer- building a garden, sewing, throwing knives, gang warfare. Against all of Mother’s training, Evie discovered she sort of liked when she didn’t do something right. Beauty had a ceiling. Challenge was exciting.

That mindset certainly explained her taste in women.

Evie crushed on Mal hard up until they came to Auradon. Hooking up with your fellow gang members was normal. They were teenagers with no supervision who lived together- do the math. Mal never let anyone in emotionally, but she enjoyed some messing-around, post-battle kissing. Every validating smile or word from Mal would be the sweetest part of any victory. Evie would constantly be conducting her own warfare, plotting stratagem for kisses and compliments, reeling from injury on days they didn’t come.

If Mother knew, Evie thought she would say that you could kiss all the girls she wanted as long as you married a prince.

Uma began in Literature class. They were partnered up for a presentation since none of the Auradon kids wanted to be with Uma, despite her incisive analysis in classroom debates.

It felt so natural to work together in class even though they disagreed on practically everything outside of it. Uma got under her skin, made her question all this Auradon goodness just when Evie was beginning to act like life had always been this way.

She was also a great kisser.

It’d been going on for almost a month now, and the whole time Evie could never be sure whether Uma was invested in its continuance. She thought for sure Uma would give up on her after Evie had blown her off twice, but the day after they ran into each other in the street, Evie got a text with a simple sushi emoji. After the final bell rang, found herself in the science corridor bathroom with the door locked. 

Mother would probably have a stroke if she knew her princess answered text message hook-up summons from a pirate girl. Uma did not have a castle to her name. She wouldn’t hold doors open for Evie like Doug or offer an arm to escort Evie home like Ben.

“Your lipstick tastes like feet,” Uma said, wiping her mouth dramatically. Case in point.

“You didn’t seem to mind five seconds ago,” Evie said, relishing the bite in her voice. Here, ladies were expected to simper. Even Audrey hid her teeth behind flowery words. Uma spoke like a sword fight.

“What’s the flavor supposed to be?” Uma said, “Rotten eggs?”

“Screw you. I made it myself. It’s eucalyptus,” Evie said as she straightened her skirt. She looked herself over in the mirror again. Right back to perfect.   
“It’s not my favorite.”

“Well, I’m still tweaking the recipe. What flavor would you prefer?”

“You’ll let me pick?” Uma said, more pleased by this than Evie would expect, “Let me think.”

They unlocked the door and stepped out. The halls were empty. They could walk together for a bit before anyone might see them. They headed towards the gardens in the direction of their dorm. The roses were in full bloom, and the cherry orchards had shed pink petals across the lawn. 

_“Achoo!”_

“Please tell me I didn’t just make out with a sick person,” Evie said.

“Shut up,” Uma said, sniffling, “It’s the stupid flowers.”

“Are you allergic?”

“I guess,” Uma said, “Never happened on the Isle.”

“The Isle only grew weeds,” Evie said. Except for her greenhouse in her mother’s castle. It was all dead plants and broken glass when Evie was little, but she and Carlos had cleared it away and planted any seeds they could get. Skullcap and scorpion weed for her mother’s potions and Evie’s remedies. Basil and mint to make rotten food somewhat flavorful.

Evie had asked her mother to water them when she left. They were probably dead now.

“You can get allergy medication from the nurse,” Evie said.

“Like I’m taking Auradon pills.”

Evie scoffed. Obviously, Auradon medicine was miles ahead of the Isle in the simple fact that it existed. But they were completely dismissive of magical methods, which could be just as effective. Evie was looking at pre-med college programs and hadn’t seen one that even included botany.

“I could put a potion together for you,” Evie said.

“You want to play doctor?”

“Shut up,” Evie said, elbowing her, “You know I’ve helped your crew in the past.” Many a fish dinner had come as payment for a pirate’s medicine.

“You’ve also poisoned my crew in the past.”

“Not when I was claiming to help them,” Evie said, “A fine moral line that I have always drawn. Witch doctor’s honor. I’ll shake up some Natrum Mur. Maybe some Euphrasia for those itchy eyes.”

“I’ll have to use a taste-tester.”

“I’ll do it myself. I’ll make that and what flavor lip gloss?”

“Do you know those little cinnamon candies you get when you’re leaving the dining hall?” Uma said.

“Yes.”

“Those,” Uma said, “I like those.”

“Done,” Evie said. They were approaching the lawn. Evie could hear voices, friends laughing at the picnic tables. It was time for them to go their separate ways.

Evie wouldn’t have cared being seen with a pirate, but Uma didn’t want to look friendly with a member of Mal’s gang.

Uma wouldn’t have cared being seen acting couple-y with another girl, but Evie deep down still wanted to be a real Auradon girl. And Auradon girls needed dashing princes to walk them to class and ask permission before holding her hand.

Carlos had his hands full.

Schoolwork, college applications, the half dozen experiments he’d started that weren’t even for school but captivated his attention even when he had a thousand other things going on.

Before Auradon, he’d always been busy. Surviving his mother was a full-time job. A part of his brain knew that even if he failed all his classes, no one would be able to lock him in a closet or burn cigarettes in his skin.

The other part of his brain said he should never feel so safe. _Let your guard down once and you’re dead._

This week had just been too much so when Carlos finally got out of final period, he ran back to his room with the siren in his brain blaring _trouble, trouble, trouble._

Even a big hug from Dude didn’t make it go away. He let the dog out to roam free. _Mother would be furious if she saw how much animal fur was on this furniture._

Once he started, he couldn’t stop. Carlos made the beds, scrubbed the toilets, vacuumed the carpet. He was as meticulous and thorough as his mother’s gaze. Every footstep down the hall set off his fight or flight response as he awaited the moment she’d walk in and catch him unfinished.

He was going at an end table with wood polish when the door really did open.

Carlos jumped halfway out of his skin, but then looked up and only saw Jay, with Dude in his arms, gravely taking in the tightly tucked bedsheets and the smell of cleaning sprays.

“Hey, ‘Los,” Jay said very, very softly.

“Hey, I’m just…” Carlos put down the polish, now wanting to hide it because it made his friends so sad to see Carlos’ old habits. The anxious itch of _big trouble_ was still there, just with a different face.

“It’s okay,” Jay said, “Can I help?”

“Mmm,” Carlos said. He could pretend it was fine while Jay went about his business, but he wouldn’t be able to really rest until the room was spotless. If Jay moved anything out of place, Carlos would have to start over.

“What’s left?” Jay said.

“Dust the lights?” Carlos said, and Jay nodded and quickly grabbed the feather duster from the caddy Carlos swiped from the janitor’s closet.

While he worked, Jay whistled the tune to a sea shanty. It helped. Instead of stressing out more, Carlos’ brain was busy automatically filling in the dirty lyrics that he and Jay had snickered over while doing recon down at the docks.

“How was your day?” Jay said when the song reached its end. Few people in Auradon would ever know that Jay could speak so gently. They wouldn’t believe he and proud Mal had scrubbed floors to spare Carlos from his mother.

“It was fine,” Carlos said, “It’s just a lot of pressure. Not bad pressure…just stressful. It’s weird. I know I’m not in actual danger, but my body doesn’t, sometimes. So, I do what used to protect me.”

“I get that,” Jay said, “Don’t tell the girls, but I still pickpocket sometimes. When I’m talking to someone or it starts to get late and I’m thinking about having to see my dad. They make it so easy here sometimes I don’t even realize that I’m doing it. I come home and take off my pants and I’m like ‘why do I have all this jewelry? I take it to the Lost and Found later. What a weird concept that is,” Jay said.

“Very Auradon,” Carlos murmured.

“You lose something, and you expect someone to try to get it back to you,” Jay continued, “And you can just go to that box and say ‘Yeah, that’s my solid gold watch right there.’”

“Hmph,” Carlos said as he polished the chair legs.

“You could tell the girls,” Carlos said, “They wouldn’t judge.”

“I know,” Jay said, “I just judge me.”

“Yeah. I judge me too.”

“We’ll always be there for you.”

“I know. I just…want to get to a point where I can just get over all that stuff. I shouldn’t need three whole humans holding me together every time someone raises their voice.”

“Someone yelled at you?” Jay said, looking fit for murder.

“Jay,” Carlos said, “No. Even if someone did, I shouldn’t need you guys to rush to my defense. I just want to get fixed and run normal.”

“You’re not one of your machines. Everyone needs help,” he said.

“But I always need it the most,” Carlos huffed, “I’ve always been the weak link.”

“Carlos, _no._ You survived Cruella. You’re gutsy as hell. You come up with stuff that sounds so stupidly reckless except then you’d have a full plan about how to actually do it and you pull it off. You’re the biggest badass I know.”

“I was afraid of puppies!”

“Because your mom told you they would eat you. But now you snuggle with them. Badass.” He smiled at him-a bonified, blinding Jay smile- and not for the first time, Carlos caught himself wanting Jay to wrap his arms around him so Carlos could bury his face in Jay’s neck and live there.

You know. As bros do.

“I just don’t want to be scared forever,” Carlos said instead. He sighed, stood up, and stretched. He wiggled his fingers, tense from holding the scrub brush so tightly. He placed the brush back into the caddy. Dude ran over and Carlos picked him up, breathing in his animal scent.

“We got a game,” Carlos said.

“We do,” Jay said. He took his cue to stop cleaning, put away the duster, and start getting dressed.   
“Your parents are coming,” Carlos said, his anxiety climbing again, “Fuck. Sorry. I completely forgot. I was so wrapped up in my stupid stuff. Are you okay?”

“C, it’s fine,” Jay said, “Your stuff is important. I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Carlos said, still feeling guilty.

“It’s going to be a rough game though. Watch out for those forwards.”

“It’s not like I’m going to play.”

“You might! You were nailing the footwork drills this week. I told Coach you can only get better if you get game time.”

“Thanks, but I am very fine with not playing,” Carlos said. Especially today. He was on edge enough without having to add fear of being tackled to the list.

“If Chad gets playtime instead of you, it’s just because his mommy calls the school to complain when he’s benched,” Jay said, “Do you think I’d be an asshole if I grew up with my real parents? Like, a Chad asshole?”

“No, I think you’d be like a Jay asshole,” Carlos said.

“Screw you,” Jay said, “I think I would be. Maybe not Chad bad. But, like, sheltered and stuff.”

“It’s nature versus nurture,” Carlos said, “We are products of our environment.”

“I think my nature is an asshole anyway,” Jay said, “I’d probably be so polite though. Do you think we’d be friends?”

Carlos didn’t want to give a dishonest answer. He wasn’t very chummy with most of the schools’ royals, and in this alternate reality, Jay would probably be one of them- walking around in expensive clothes and wincing when anyone said something too harsh. 

But this was also _Jay_ who seconds ago saw Carlos spiraling and stopped to dust the chandelier because he knew it would help.

“Yeah?” Carlos said.

“I know you can lie better than that,” Jay said.

“Okay, it’s hard to say, but I think in any universe, even if we wouldn’t necessarily be friends at first, once we really got to know each other, we would be.”

“I’ll accept that,” Jay said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

Today was going to be a tight game which meant Carlos could do whatever he wanted because he certainly wasn’t going to play. He’d usually pull out his homework or go sit with Mal and Evie, but the firefight on the field was riveting enough to even hold Carlos’ attention. In the last quarter, the match was tied with Jay and Gil pretty much carrying their whole team.

Carlos looked around and couldn’t spot Mal or Evie though they said they were coming. He did see the Princess of Agrabah though, sitting all alone in the front row of the bleachers. Aladdin and a boy who must be Aziz had been with her before, but they’d gone somewhere.

Carlos wanted to introduce himself before, but he really still didn’t like talking to adults, especially in the plural. One on one was a lot less intimidating. He decided to seize on this opportunity. He got off the bench and moseyed over to the princess, who was watching the game in deep concentration. Carlos stopped and stood at enough distance that it didn’t look like they were together.

“Hello, your Majesty,” Carlos said quietly, leaning into her eyeline. The Princess still jumped a little at the sound.”

“Sorry. I move quietly. I wanted to say hi.”

She smiled politely, “It’s no problem. You don’t need to use titles. You’re Carlos, the roommate, correct?”

“That’s me,” he said.

“Shouldn’t you be waiting to play?” she said.

“Coach only puts me in if we’re winning by a lot, and he wants to show mercy. Jay has all the talent there.”

“He’s very good. I don’t know the game, but that’s clear. So…aggressive.”

“Coach likes it,” Carlos said, maybe a little defensively, “He tries to get the rest of the team to play more like Jay and Gil.”

“They’re the best players. That blonde boy flinches every time the other team comes near him.”

Carlos laughed, “Yeah, Chad’s a wimp.”

“Why did you join the team if you’re not…?”

“If I’m not good? You can say it,” Carlos said, laughing, “When we all first got here, we didn’t like to be split up. Jay made Coach put me on so we can watch each other’s backs.”

“Did you play sports before coming here?”

“There weren’t really any athletics at our old school,” Carlos said. Maybe if there had been, kids would have less energy to pick fights just for the hell of it. Then again, very few kids’ caloric intake could accommodate much physical recreation.

“It was very different there?” Jasmine said cautiously.

“It was…too different to really list the ways.”

Jasmine nodded tightly. Aladdin and Aziz returned then, carrying snacks.

“Hey, Carlos, right?” Aladdin said, extending a hand for him to shake.

“Nice to meet you, guys,” Carlos said.

“This is great. We have to get this to catch on in Agrabah,” Aladdin said. He had a different energy than Jasmine, less adult, like he was trying to be Carlos’ pal. 

“Aziz, do you have any interest?” Jasmine said, “Maybe Jay could give you some pointers.”

“I like football better,” Aziz mumbled.

“I know that one!” Carlos said, “We had a ball. Sometimes kids played it around our…” _don’t say gang headquarters_ “clubhouse.”

“It’s the best sport in the world,” Aziz said.

“Don’t let Jay hear you say that,” Aladdin said. 

“He wouldn’t care. If it involves any kind of competition, he’ll play it,” Carlos said.

“You know him well,” Aladdin said.

“Can I ask you something?” Jasmine said.

“Anything,” he said, wanting to be helpful.

“What does he like to eat?” Jasmine said. Thank Evil, an easy question.

“Coach got him obsessed with nutrition after we got here so all fruits and vegetables and proteins. He lectures the guys all the time about sugar intake and eating your colors and all that.”

“Really? I thought most teenage boys eat whatever’s in front of them,” Jasmine said.

“Yeah, I definitely do. He’d never turn down food, but he’s as conscientious as he can be. It’s sort of annoying, but it makes sense since he was trying to put on a lot of muscle mass after all that time of not eating enough.”

It wasn’t until after a few seconds of absolute silence that Carlos realized what he’d said. Shit, shit, _shit._

They had to know children often went hungry where they were from, right? Mal was on TV every other day talking about the conditions, trying to make Auradon see their sins.

But Mal had also commanded verbatim, _If they think we hate them, they’ll think we’re speaking for Jay so let’s ease them in slowly on our collective trauma._

“So, Jay drinks a gigantic kale smoothie every morning,” Carlos said quickly. Suddenly, Evie was next to him. He suspected she’d been watching the whole interaction from afar, waiting to diffuse tension.

“Hey, guys,” Evie said. She had been texting Jasmine all week, joking that they were new best friends, “What a beautiful day for a game.”

“Evie, it’s nice to see you,” Jasmine said, recovering.

The ref blew final whistle. They’d won, four to three. It had been close, but Jay looked more excited by the challenge than frustrated. He had scored all four goals. He was supposed to not show-off so much anymore, but Carlos suspected he made an exception for today’s audience.

When Jay came running over to them, he was radiating confidence. On the Isle, seeing Jay like this usually meant you were about to lose your wallet.

“Hey!” he said, “Thanks for coming.”

“It was our pleasure,” Jasmine said.

“You were great out there,” Aladdin said.

“That was nothing,” Jay said with no detectable modesty. Maybe he was born to be a prince.

“You’re lucky I stayed on the bench. I let you have all the glory,” Carlos said. They all laughed, and Jay hit him in the shoulder.   
“We were going to get lunch if you kids want to come,” Aladdin said.   
“Sounds good to me. I’m starving,” Jay said. Carlos caught the discomfort on Aladdin and Jasmine’s faces at Jay’s word choice.

“I hate to say it, but maybe we should travel separately,” Evie said, “We’re already getting looks.”

“Right,” Jasmine said, “That’s smart. Do you guys have a favorite place?”

They did. It was called Pizza Pizza, and they sold pizza. Ben wrinkled his nose every time they took him there. He said it was too greasy, as if there was such a thing. They went on their first week off the Isle and it was very cheap, so they all had a soft spot for it.

They got their pizza, and things were going surprisingly well without any more hiccups. Mal joined them, and Carlos thought they were always more relaxed when the four of them were in one place. Jay was certainly at ease, and his parents were clearly charmed by everything he said.

“You’re so handsome and the captain of the tourney team. You must have a girlfriend,” Jasmine teased. Jay beamed. It was all very wholesome and completely unlike any interaction Carlos had with any parent for the first fifteen years of his life. Actually, just make that any interaction.

“Not yet,” Jay said.

“Jay took Lonnie to cotillion,” Mal said.

“Aha!” Jasmine said.

“As friends!” Jay said. Mal was about to dispute when Aziz interrupted.

“Do you have a tattoo?” he said. Jay whipped his head around to see if his back was exposed, where he did have a large cobra tat courtesy of Mal. But Aziz was looking at Jay’s chest, where the low cut of his collar exposed a bit of Jafar’s ward.

“A tattoo?” Jasmine said. Carlos was pretty sure “your child got a tattoo” was the stuff of royal parents’ nightmares. 

“It’s not a tattoo,” Carlos said quickly, “Did Ben explain the ward Jafar cast?”

“Oh. Yes, a little,” Jasmine said, “He didn’t say it left a mark on your skin.”

“Yeah,” Jay said, “Apparently, it’s always been there hidden by the magic? I think it messed up how my chest hair grew in.” Jay laughed a little.

“It takes up your whole chest?” Aladdin said, his voice raising an octave. Carlos wasn’t sure how much Jay’s parents knew about magic but probably enough to start doing the math of skin mark = blood magic and blood magic = very painful and dangerous.

“Yeah, but it’s fine. Doesn’t hurt or anything,” Jay said. He pulled up his collar higher.

“Fairy Godmother said it could fade with time since the magic’s been used up,” Mal said. The possibility seemed to soothe them a degree. Carlos only heard the unlikely _could_ in that sentence. Carlos knew better than anyone: the marks your parents give you are for life.

The Isle had robbers and murderers and all sorts of evil Mal had to face. But Auradon? Auradon had in-laws.

Not yet, of course. Ben had to wait until they were out of high school at least. This wasn’t the middle ages. FG had mentioned waiting for a sensible twenty-one, so as not to put off the more modern-leaning constituency. There was an inevitability to it though everyone was pretty much decided on.

Except, of course, the prospective in-laws.

Belle had definitely warmed up to Mal. She had taken her under her wing for lessons in etiquette and royal customs. She was a kind teacher, and she seemed to appreciate how Mal read every book she gave her (as quickly as possible too, taking precedence over all homework. High school was temporary. In-laws were forever). Yet, Belle also liked to bring up how Audrey really took so quickly to waltzing and histories and just about everything Mal struggled with. Sure, it must be annoying to have lost a decade of investment into training your successor, but you really shouldn’t pick your kids’ wives at age six. 

Beast was colder. He seemed to blame Mal for Ben’s new habit for disagreeing with his father all the time, as if that hadn’t started with Ben choosing to bring them over. Ben had his own brain, and thankfully for the whole kingdom, it was a lot smarter and kinder than his father’s. While Mal would freely volunteer her thoughts on any political matter, she made a rule to never say a word against Ben’s parents in front of him.

Even when they made it really, really hard.

Like, tonight, there was a private dinner hosted by Ben and his parents for Aladdin and Jasmine and some other notable Agrabah figures who’d travelled with the royals or were based in the capital. Beast was already in a surly mood because Jasmine kind of hated him. Mal still wasn’t really sure why, but she knew it went back to the kingdom unification. Beast was double-annoyed because Jasmine, for no reason he was aware of, seemed to really like Mal.

During cocktail hour, Mal had been trying to get to know everyone in the room, but the princess and her husband kept drifting towards her and, of course, their retinue followed their lead.

“You will have to visit us at home, dear,” Jasmine said.

“Ben and I would love to,” Mal said.

“Perhaps over the summer?” Aladdin said. Mal had no delusions of flattery here. Their niceness to her was definitely mostly about Jay. She was his best friend and had literally presented herself as the key to accessing him.

But Beast didn’t know that. All he saw was his son’s girlfriend that he didn’t like happily ingratiated with the political rivals he didn’t like. Although he was too polite to say anything, Mal imagined his anger following her around the room, hotly breathing down her neck.

She didn’t want to be rude to Jasmine and Aladdin though. They really were nice, and it was nice for once to be at one of these things and be treated with some goodwill.

“It’s time to proceed into the dining room,” Belle said. Mal exhaled in relief. At least at dinner, they would all be sitting at the same table. No one could blame her for playing favorites.

Mal was seated between Ben and Aladdin at dinner. The table was round and painted with birds from each kingdom. Ben actually called it the Unity Table, and the cute dorkiness of that made Mal feel at ease there.

Aladdin was doing the same routine he’d done during their dance, treating Mal like a friend with little in-jokes. He described each of the traditional Agrabah foods to her as they were served, half of them with an adage about the best place to authentically get it at home.

“This woman Alma sells these wrapped in newspaper on this corner in the shadiest street in the city, but no creep will ever mess her because then they’d lose the best lamb they’ll ever taste,” he said. Mal snickered.

“What foods remind you of home?” he said unexpectedly.

“No food at all,” she’d say, if they were really friends. Someone from home would get that was a joke, but she and Aladdin weren’t like that.

“Evie used to make bread, if she had enough flour. She’d put in whatever she had lying around. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory,” Mal said.

“There are few finer joys in life than a fresh loaf of bread,” Aladdin mused, his mouth full of food. Jasmine said something fond to him in Arabic which Mal thinks boiled down to “chew”. Their retinue laughed at it.

Mal shot a look to Beast. There was a firm set in his mouth every time someone spoke the language he didn’t know.

“You are such a fine young man, Ben,” Jasmine said. Ben preened adorably under the compliment.

“Thank you, your grace,” he said.

“A fine young king,” Beast corrected.

“ _Very_ young. In Agrabah, the heir must be twenty-one to inherit, and even at that advanced age, my father barely relinquished the power to hold the giant scissors at hospital wing openings,” Jasmine said.

“I like to think my youth gives me a unique perspective on the future,” Ben said.

“Well said,” Jasmine said.

“Agrabah’s political situation has been quite the cyclone,” Beast said, and with his entry into conversation, Mal’s gut twisted. The claws were out tonight.

“We’ve had no national security emergencies in over a decade. I should know, I write the reports,” Aladdin said.

“During unification, it was peace all over, except in your neck of the woods. Political upheaval, class turmoil, magical invaders. Every week, a distressing new story in your corner of the newspaper.”

“Our country took a long time to sort out who we wanted to be and how to best use our many gifts to build a lasting future. We are now the leader of technical innovation in the kingdom and quickly on track to universal top-tier education. Our people enjoy more freedoms than in our brother kingdoms as well, including the free use of magic.”

“A recipe for chaos,” Beast said.

“We would be asking a major sect of our population to deny their very selves if we banned it,” one of the counsellors scoffed. Mal believed she was half-djinn. She could feel the magic buzzing in her blood.

“Unhappy people create chaos. Sometimes the more complex solutions take time, but I for one, am happy with the road my country travels on,” Jasmine said.

“Hear, hear!” a woman said, raising her glass. All of the Agrabah contingency did the same.

“I did not mean to create a stir,” Beast said. _Bullshit._

“Not at all. I think everyone at this table enjoys a healthy political discussion. I prefer friends and counsellors who need no invitation to speak their mind,” Jasmine said, “I imagine our king does as well, as he’s chosen such an astute young woman for a partner.”

“You are too kind,” Mal said, in Arabic.

“That accent isn’t half-bad, my lady!” a transportation secretary possibly named Riz said.

“Mal has a gift for languages,” Ben said, “She also knows French, Latin, and High Goblin.”

“One positive about where I grew up- it’s very cosmopolitan,” Mal said. Only Aladdin snickered at that.

“I know very little about the Isle of the Lost. In Agrabah, it is rarely spoken of. I understand here people are more- what’s the word? - preoccupied by it,” a woman who introduced herself earlier as Safaa said.

“I consider it one of the most urgent questions my generation faces,” Ben said.

“It’s a prison colony, plain and simple. It’s not just the inherited imprisonment of the children that’s deplorable. There’s no parole, no trials, no oversight!” a younger man said. He was somebody notable’s son or maybe Jasmine’s third cousin?

“It must be completely overhauled. The education initiatives are only the beginning,” Jasmine said, sipping her wine.

“I don’t remember you being so against it when you needed Jafar off your hands,” Beast said.

“A decision I will regret forever,” she said coldly. Only Mal and Ben knew how well she meant it.

He scoffed, “He could have murdered countless of your people over the years if he wasn’t locked up. You came begging for Fairy Godmother to take him down.”

“I traded a quick solution for hundreds of children’s suffering. I at least have the decency to regret it,” she said tersely. Beast looked at Mal then, glaring.

“So, you’ve spoken with my son’s little provocateur, then?” he said, smiling humorlessly. Mal opened her mouth to defend herself, but Jasmine spoke first.

“I can come to my own conclusions, thank you. I do not deflect my failings onto teenage girls either,” Jasmine said, venom dripping off every syllable.

“The princess is right. Mal does not belong to me, and she is not the reason people see the Isle as a failure. They feel that way because it is,” Ben said. It was so terrifying to watch Ben challenge his father, like watching a man swallow a flaming sword. Mal wondered how you could survive it as much as she wondered how you could try it without fear of harm.

“Son, you wear the crown, but you have not been challenged the way we were before unification, when the world was ruled by villains and madmen,” Beast said.

“Lucky he has me to tell him exactly what living in that world is like,” Mal said. She exposed herself to the direct glare of Beast- she wondered if he knew that was what she called him in her head. She let the hate wash over, like a wave against a sturdy seawall, and although she didn’t dare enough to flash her eyes green, she felt pretty close to how she did in that last confrontation with Mother.

Jasmine laughed, and her entourage laughed with her. Thanks to pure numbers, the tension left as quickly as it arrived. The rest of the night passed uneventfully. Only at the end did something odd happen.

When Mal joined the hosts in giving their formal goodbyes, Jasmine kissed both her cheeks and pulled her into a hug. Aladdin smiled at her too and winked. They did these things so casually, like old friends.

Like parents.

Mal asked Ben to escort her back to the dorm. She felt sort of unsettled by the whole night. Ben picked up on it too. He parked in front of her dorm but took her hand before she got out.

“I’m sorry about my father. I will talk to him. Again,” Ben said.

“It’s fine,” Mal said.

“I can tell he bothered you.”

“It’s not that,” she said, and it was true, but she wished she hadn’t said it.

“What’s wrong then?” Ben said.

“Nothing.”

“Mal.”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“Feelings don’t have to make sense.”

“It was just weird being around Jasmine and Aladdin.”

“You seemed to be getting along so well?”

“Yeah, I know. I mean, it’s obviously all because of Jay. They want me to like them so he will.”

“The princess is very shrewd. Your instincts are probably right, but I’m sure they think you’re great too. Because you are.”

“Thanks,” she said, rolling her eyes.  
“So, it bothered you that they were somewhat faking their interest in you?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Spit it out, Mal.”

“You’re going to think I’m the worst friend in the world,” she said very quietly.

“Never,” Ben swore.  
“I’m jealous,” she said.

“Of who?” Ben said.

“Of Jay!” she said, and once it was out, she couldn’t stop, “It’s just, if I could suddenly stop being Maleficent’s daughter, I’d be fucking ecstatic. It’d be the best news ever. Everyone here who hates me would lose their reason. And Jays’ parents are freaking perfect, political and smart but not stuck-up. They wouldn’t even have to be royalty. Just nice normal people to pick me up for holiday break or come to my school stuff or stand up for me so I could stop fighting my own battles for once!”

Ben was silent. She couldn’t even look at him. He must be so disgusted with her.

“Say it,” she said, “I feel jealous that my friend was kidnapped and found out he actually has super nice parents. Tell me I’m the worst person to ever live.”

“Mal, I’m not thinking that at all. You’re a great friend and a good person.”

“No, I’m not. I suck and I’m evil,” she said.

“I don’t know how you have the strength. The distance would be one thing, but your mom- “

“Yes, my mom’s a lizard,” she said, “She is literally a lizard because she doesn’t love me enough.”

“I didn’t know this was weighing on you so heavily.”

“It wasn’t. It’s just all this Jay stuff brings it up. I mean we really got screwed, the four of us. Not every parent on the Isle was a huge piece of shit. Even Gaston stuck around, which is more than I can say for my dad. Shit, that’s not fair. Gaston sucks a lot. I’m not saying that’s better.”

“I’ve never heard you mention your father,” Ben said, “I wasn’t sure you knew who he was.”  
“In the early days of the Isle, there was a lot of bored unprotected sex happening so a lot of us can’t be sure. But my mother was pretty selective, so yeah, I know who he is. He walked out when I was a baby.”

“Have you ever met?”

“I’d see him once in a while in the streets. It wasn’t something I was encouraged to be open about. Mother was embarrassed she made a halfling.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Ben said, “Is there any part of you that wants to have a relationship with him?”

“He’s a villain, Ben. Not a petty one either. You know his name.”

“Of course, I don’t want you to force yourself to be around someone who might pose harm you.”

“Well,” she said, “I don’t think he’d do that.” He’d sort of winked at her once in the markets, like they shared a secret. He mostly kept to himself and stayed in that mine shaft, but once or twice, they’d crossed paths, and Mal thought she might have felt some understanding pass between them. An acknowledgement.

“So, would you want to reach out?” Ben said, “Maybe that could, I don’t know, ease that absence you’re feeling?”

“Slow down,” Mal said, “Maybe I’ll think about it, but. He still ran out on me. Also, very evil.”

“Okay. Just say the word when you’re ready,” Ben said, “I’m sorry…I want my parents to feel like family to you. I’ve tried to get them to feel that way. Mom at least makes an effort, but my father is so stubborn. In time, I hope.”

“You don’t have to apologize for him,” she said. Mal scooted towards him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I used to think he was perfect. Now I constantly wish he was different,” Ben sighed.

Beast was pretty annoying, and he was the main architect of basically all the suffering in Mal’s life. But she brought to the in-law table the most infamous fae of all time, the god of the dead, a witch, a thief, and, well, Carlos.

It was sort of even.

Even Jay had to admit this tourney practice was pretty difficult.

On the hundredth lap up and down the bleachers, his thighs were starting to cry out. At this point, most of the guys were passed out on the grass below. He assumed no one would appreciate a long talk about the magic of chia seeds for endurance. 

He could also share his other great fitness tip which is cut your sleep time in half and spend those restless hours breaking into the training facility for a little nighttime work out. But Jay wasn’t telling anybody about, even if he didn’t really think it was a big deal. The season officially started this week, so it wasn’t weird to ramp up the intensity right now. Jay just wanted to start strong. Nothing else.

Coach blew his whistle, and Jay and the other couple of survivors huddled around him on the grass.

“I want to see rested, ready to perform players tomorrow. Sleep well. Eat a healthy breakfast You’re free to go,” Coach said, “Jay. Let’s have a chat.”

In his cramped little office, Coach gestured for Jay to sit on the folding chair in front of his desk.

“What’s up, Coach?” Jay said between chugs of water. He was already itching to get back on the field. A few more drills couldn’t hurt.

“As you know, formal tourney recruitment period started this morning. I’ve already had five coaches call me about you joining their team after graduation. Two were pro teams,” Coach said. He smiled, waiting for Jay to join his excitement. Up until last week, this news would have made Jay’s life pretty much perfect.

“That’s great,” Jay said, half-heartedly. Coach studied him.

“Everything okay, Jay?” he said, “I noticed you’ve been a little off this week.”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Jay said.

“There will be more scouts showing up to our upcoming games. I noticed some equipment’s been taken out after hours. If you need to let something out with a little exercise, be my guest. But you could let it out by telling someone about it too,” Coach said, and he put his hand on Jay’s shoulder. Jay tensed up a little, but he didn’t shrug it off like he did the first few times Coach got all familiar.

“Really, I’m fine,” Jay said.

“Alright. Back to business then. These scouts will want to talk to you. They’ll be competing to win you over, throwing around big numbers and flashy perks. Since you’re underage, they can make contact by talking to you or to your parent or guardian.”

“What?” Jay said, a chill going through him.

“Because your father is on the Isle, your legal guardianship reverts to the school. It’s in my name, actually.”

“I didn’t know that,” Jay said.

“It would only come up in an emergency,” Coach said, “I take the boys. Godmother gets the girls.”

“Huh.”

“Usually, Coaches would be barred from talking to me as your coach, but we got an exception from the leagues for your special circumstance. Rest assured, I won’t make any decisions for you and will be completely transparent.”

Crap. Would Jay be messing up his whole tourney career if he withheld the fact that his real parents were actually in Auradon? Auradon’s laws were so weird. He didn’t want to fuck up his future on a technicality.

He and his real parents had agreed on secrecy, but that was mostly for Jay’s sake. He did trust Coach as much as he could ever trust an adult in Auradon. 

Right after he joined the team, Jay would train alone for hours too. There was so much energy leftover when he didn’t have to steal and fight to eat. There was anger too at all the shitty things that happened on the Isle and the stupid rules Auradon had. Coach found him one night running around the dark field all alone. He told Jay that he was a good kid. Jay didn’t know any details about Coach’s past, but there was something there that meant Coach got the Isle kids in a way most adults here didn’t.

Sometimes, Jay asked himself if he just swapped out Jafar for Coach, another man to follow orders from and try to impress. Except if Jafar was putting a hand on him, it wasn’t to tell him everything was alright.

“That whole parent thing might get a little complicated,” Jay said slowly. 

Coach raised an eyebrow, and Jay told him the whole story.

“I thought it was strange they came to the game,” was all he said at the end of it.

“So, does it mess up everything with the recruiters?” Jay said.

“I don’t think this situation has ever happened in the history of professional tourney recruitment,” Coach said, “I’ll have to look into it. Normally, when I guide my players through this process, it is me, the player, and the parents working together. Do you want them involved?”

“I don’t…my dad- Jafar- I wouldn’t want him involved in anything, and he wouldn’t want to be. I don’t know if they care. I mean, they probably care more than him, but I barely know them. They’re busy people.”

“I deal with royals a lot. They map out their kids’ futures very closely. It’s part of the job.”

“They just met me,” Jay said, “I haven’t even talked to them about all the royal stuff yet.”

“Fair enough. I am not a lawyer, but I think that with them in the picture, the school’s guardianship is voided. I should probably at least have a conversation with them before agents approach you.”

“Okay…” Jay said, “I guess I could call them.”

“How are you doing with all this? I doubt the guidance counselor has a brochure for this sort of situation.”

Jay shrugged, “I mean, it’s weird, but. It’s not like I’m going to turn into a whole different person.”

“Are they treating you right?” he said, “The other day…”

“They said they’re really sorry about that whole thing,” Jay said.

“Well, that’s only right,” Coach said, “If you need to talk to someone, you got me.”

“Thanks, Coach,” he said.

With the game tomorrow, Jay didn’t have the time to put off making the call. On the walk back from the locker room, he scrolled through his contacts and found Aladdin’s. He wasn’t an actual head of state so he would probably mind slightly less getting bugged about this than Jasmine.

He picked up at the first ring.

“Hey, Jay. What’s up? Everything okay?” he said. He didn’t sound annoyed at all.

“Hi. Uh, it’s all good,” Jay said, “I just have a weird thing to ask you about.”

“Anything! Please, ask away.”

“Okay,” Jay said, “So my tourney coach has been talking to recruiters. College and pro. They’ll be coming to my games, but they can’t talk to me without a parent signing off. Since Jafar was on the Isle, the school was my guardian, but we don’t know what happens now and don’t want to mess anything up legally, so I told my coach about the whole situation, and he wants talk to you.”

“You told your coach?”

“He’s really cool. He won’t tell anyone.”

“Okay. It’s your decision. Wow. That’s great that these other teams are interested. That doesn’t happen unless you’re really good, right?”

“Well. it doesn’t happen if you’re bad,” Jay said. Aladdin laughed.

“So, this is something you want to do?” he said, “The coach isn’t pressuring you, right?”

“No, I want to,” Jay said, “I like tourney. Way worse ways to make a living.”

“I mean, if there’s a financial concern, you have us.”

“It’s fine,” Jay said automatically. He didn’t trust charity, even if every instinct in his body told him he was an idiot for turning down free money. 

“Would you be able to just talk to my coach?” Jay said, “I think you can sign something, so we don’t blow the whole secret thing.”

“Of course, whatever you need,” he said, “Could you and your coach come by the embassy tomorrow? Or I could come by the school?”

“No, we’ll come to you,” Jay said. Less conspicuous that way.

“I’ll send you the address and tell security you’re coming,” he said, “It’ll be good to see you.”

“You too,” Jay said, “So…thanks. Catch you later.”

Coach Jenkins drove Jay over the next day. It was again weird being off campus in a teacher’s personal car, but that weird was dwarfed by the weird of going to his birth parents’ house for the first time.

It shouldn’t feel weird. It wasn’t his first time meeting them. Pizza had gone great. They’d gotten along so well. Except, Jay had had the buffer of his friends and hadn’t been asking them for something.

Coach turned on to Unity Row, the line of streets where each kingdom’s leaders and diplomats resided when in the city. They were all matching white stone townhouses with the respective kingdom’s flags hanging above the doors in a perfect line. A guard stood at the end of the block, and Jay gave him a hard stare as they drove past. Guards in Auradon were always watching Isle kids, but their eyes usually went to Jay first. His muscles and height and leather screamed _dangerous_. Jay was the brawn who drew fire to protect his friends. Right now, the hairs were standing up on the back of his neck like they did right before the other guy threw the first punch.

Coach parked the car, but he didn’t get out.

“I bet they’re really nice folks,” Coach said, “I hope they are. They’re also royalty. They’re used to deciding what’s best for everyone else. But only you know what’s best for you, Jay. Does that make sense?”

Jay nodded, although he wished Coach would be more direct. If he was trying to give Jay a play, just say it.

“I won’t hold the other day against them if you don’t,” he said.

“It’s really not a big deal- “

“I know, I know. It’s just been on my mind,” he said, “Well, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

They walked up the front steps and a man in a soldier’s uniform opened the door before they could knock. Jay almost turned and ran then, but the man bowed and spoke with a polite smile.

“Prince Ali and Mr. Jenkins, welcome to the Agrabah embassy.”

“You can just call me Coach,” Coach said.

“And I’m Jay,” Jay said. He had mostly forgotten that he had a whole other name. It was bizarre to be addressed with it.

“Right this way,” the soldier said.

After taking a couple steps inside, Jay was disoriented on account that the inside was so much bigger than the townhouse’s exterior made it look like it would be. It was making it hard for Jay to track the exits and escape routes. That and how freaking fancy this whole place was raised Jay’s anxiety which was so dumb. He was literally in his parents’ house. He should be relaxed.

Jay hated that he had to ask something of them though, especially so soon after meeting them. He wished that he’d told Aladdin to come to Coach’s messy little office so at least Jay knew the terrain.

Jay was a people person. He had convinced old ladies to give him their last nice brooch and made the hardest men think they’d lose a fight with a kid. Trying to convince his literal parents who had already offered him a hundred favors, to sign some stupid piece of paper should be an easy task.

They walked into a fancy parlor room, decorated with paintings of battle scenes. Jay idly wondered if they brought foreign diplomats here to scare them.

“Jay, welcome. it’s so good to see you again.” Jay turned to see both his parents walking in, dressed in “business-casual” _,_ as Evie would put it.

“Hey,” Jay said, “I didn’t know you’d both be here. I mean, it’s great to see you. I just know you’re busy and stuff.”

“We are never too busy for family,” Jasmine said, “Please sit. You must be Coach Jenkins. Would you like something to drink? Tea or coffee?”

“Tea would be great,” Coach said. He didn’t bow or use any titles. Coach wasn’t really the type for that. He’d even worn his trademark cargo shorts and team windbreaker.

“I would take water. Please,” Jay said.

“Is this building magically expanded?” Coach said.

“Just a little djinn home renovation,” Aladdin said.

“Bigger on the inside. Like a lamp,” Jay said. His dad had said once that in a lamp, you could add a hundred rooms, just not an exit.

“Exactly,” Aladdin said, “Don’t tell Fairy Godmother.” 

Jay laughed at that. Hey, they had something in common- breaking FG’s rules.

“So, I hear you are looking at colleges,” Jasmine said, crossing her legs and sipping from a porcelain teacup. 

“More like they’re looking at him,” Coach said, “Jay is one of the top recruits for high school tourney in the country. He’ll also likely receive offers from some pro teams.”

“How exciting,” Jasmine said, “I have been researching the sport a bit. What schools are you expecting to hear from?”

Coach pulled out his brochures from the binder he’d brought. There was Aurora, Sherwood, Pendragon. Jay honestly had trouble telling them all apart. All their campuses had the same shady trees and brick buildings in their photos. He almost wished he had the nerdy binder Evie made for college research. He hadn’t told her he was coming here. He hadn’t told any of his friends. Thankfully, Coach gave some details on the coaches and stats which jogged Jay’s memory.

“Which do you like, Jay?” Aladdin said.

“Sherwood is ranked first so if they want me, I’d feel pretty set,” Jay said.

“They’ll require some impressing, but their current point forward is graduating next spring,” Coach said, “I bet they’re also talking to that Gawain kid from Camelot Prep.”

“Well, they’ll forget him once they see me,” Jay said.

“I see Corona College in here,” Jasmine, “A friend of ours went there. She speaks very highly of the education she received.”

“Yeah, that one has the really good engineering program,” Jay said.

“I didn’t know you were interested in engineering. That’s wonderful,” Jasmine said.

“I’m not. Carlos is,” Jay said. His parents shared a look.

“What should matter most though is if the school is right for you,” Jasmine said, “It’s a big decision. Do you have a course of study in mind?”

“Not yet,” Jay said, “I mean, most people go in undecided, right?”

“That is true,” Jasmine said.

“My biggest priority is whether I can get a scholarship,” Jay said, “Carlos and Evie are the smart ones.”

“You’re smart too,” Aladdin said.

“Are all of you planning to go to the same college?” Jasmine said. 

“I mean. We’re not gonna let anyone go alone,” he said. They’d talked about it at the beginning of the semester when all the juniors were researching and applying. Carlos needed science programs with well-funded labs. Evie had a list ten miles long of prospective majors, but she preferred to be near a city. Mal and Ben would be attending part-time at U of Auradon City with private tutors covering royal shit on the side, but Mal wanted at least one of them near enough to visit. 

“It’s not always smart to make college decisions based on where your high school friends go,” Jasmine said.   
“Mal, Carlos, and Evie aren’t my ‘high school friends,’” he snapped which he immediately regretted.

“Sorry, I mean, they’re just important,” he said.

“You have to think about yourself sometimes,” Aladdin said. He had this too-soft way of talking to Jay that was actually pretty annoying.

They didn’t get it. Being part of the gang was the only thing that had made Jay’s life bearable. If they didn’t look out for each other, they’d end up dead or dead inside like all the adults they knew. What if Carlos went to school alone and got a roommate who would see him freaking out and wouldn’t know what to do?

This was getting too heavy. He was losing his audience. Jay put on a smile like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“I’m low maintenance,” he said, “I just need a field to play on, and I’ll be set.”

“Corona is going to need a forward after Espinosa goes pro. I know De Vil is looking there already for their science department,” Coach said, “Excellent tourney program. I know the coaching staff are a good lot.”

“Sounds great,” Jay said, happy to be back on track.

“You know, Agrabah has some wonderful universities, especially in the capital,” Jasmine said, effectively blowing up the track.

“I could look at those,” Jay said, not wanting to lose his cool again.

“Agrabah doesn’t have any college tourney teams,” Coach said.

“Right,” Jay said, nodding.

“Jay’s a talented athlete. He could excel at any sport,” Jasmine said.

“Sure,” Jay said.

“But we’re here to talk about tourney scholarships,” Coach said, his voice rising just a bit. It put Jay on edge, bringing him back to losing games, making him feel like he needs to do better or everyone’s fucked, and it’ll be all his fault.

“Agrabah schools have free tuition for all our citizens,” Aladdin said, “You could pick any school. They’d be falling over themselves to accept you.”

“It would be seen as a slight for our son to attend university outside of our kingdom,” Jasmine said, “Not that that should affect your decision.”

“Oh, okay,” Jay said. Cool. He had come here wanting to play tourney and now he was hated by an entire kingdom he’d never been to.

“We would love to have you close by,” Jasmine said, and she looked at him with big puppy dog eyes like Carlos’ except ten times worse because it was coming from the person who literally gave birth to him and deep down, yeah, Jay always wanted to meet his mom and all she was asking was to be in the same kingdom as her son and wow, he was going to have to tell the gang to brush up on their Arabic because they’re all moving to Agrabah!

“That could be cool,” Jay said quietly. Coach looked at him again and Jay knew what his gaze meant this time. _Fumble._ He couldn’t please one side without disappointing the other, and Jay couldn’t stand to have anyone mad at him.

“For now, though, we should really just discuss the practical matter of tourney recruitment,” Coach said, “Are you alright with coaches approaching Jay?”

“Jay, is that what you want?” Aladdin said, and he had dropped the softness just enough to make Jay sit up straight and say-

“Yes, sir,” Jay said. The three adults stared at him. Coach pressed his lips together. Aladdin looked like he’d been struck.

Jay hadn’t meant to. It was an old reflex, from a different father.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Aladdin said quietly.

“Right,” Jay said, “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be…” Aladdin said, again talking to Jay like he was Dude in a thunderstorm, “Okay, so the recruiters are okay to talk to Jay. Is there anything for us to sign?”

“Fairy Godmother actually did have a form for this,” Coach said, laughing a little, trying to break the tension. Jay could still feel his heart beating in his ears. He wasn’t sure what they’d just talked about or how they’d finally gotten what they came here for.

He did gather that Coach is closing his binder, standing up, and shaking hands. Jay gave a smile and nod and probably said thanks too. He followed the back of Coach’s bald head out of the dizzyingly expanded halls until they were back on the street where at least the dimensions make sense.


	6. Chapter 6

It just wasn’t adding up. Carlos had scheduled and rescheduled, but something had to give, or else Carlos was going to keep having breakdowns. Time to work on his inventions and being a full-time dog dad were necessary, so tourney went to the chopping block. Just the idea of losing the daily hour of tackling- not to mention the time lost travelling to away games he barely played in- only filled him with relief. The only downside was the guilt over abandoning Jay, but Carlos thought he would understand. His friends were always saying Carlos had permission to take care of himself every once in a while, and not just when it came to survival.

Even believing this, Carlos decided to tell Coach first. That way, he couldn’t change his mind when he had to tell Jay. 

“Coach, I think I should quit the team,” Carlos said after practice. His voice hadn’t even quivered, even though he was talking with an adult man he’d never been alone with before.

“Well, De Vil, I’m sorry to hear that,” Coach said, “May I ask why?”

“I just need more time for homework and college prep. This just isn’t really my thing.”

“I understand. You have a lot of potential as an athlete. I’ll be coaching cross country next fall if you’re interested.”

“Oh, okay? I’ll think about it.”

“So, would you want today to be your last practice?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Right. You can keep the jersey, if you want. And you can always stop by if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Carlos said. Coach gave him a half smile. Carlos had half-expected a lecture on giving up or something, but Jenkins was pretty cool. Carlos could sort of see why Jay worshipped the ground he walked on.

After that, Carlos walked back to the dorm, and surprisingly, it wasn’t empty. 

“Hey, man,” he said.

“Hey!” Jay said, “I thought you would have beat me back. I made some of the guys go over the Sword play one more time with me after practice.”

“Yeah, I noticed you’ve been barely leaving that field lately.”

“I mean, the season starts this week, man. We’ve got a real chance at inter-kingdom champions. You know, they fly us all out to Neverland, like on a _plane_ , and we get to stay in a fancy hotel with all the cheerleaders and then play on TV.”

“That all sounds so wicked, but I actually just talked to Jenkins and…I quit the team,” Carlos said.

“What are you talking about?” Jay said.

“I quit tourney,” Carlos said.

“No, you didn’t. You can’t quit!”

“I already did it.”

“I can get you more playing time. Coach has been leaning towards those more aggressive plays in our strategy right now, but after the Atlantis game, he’s going to switch it up so you’re back in.”

“It’s not like that. I just needed to free up my schedule, so I have more time for homework and working on my stuff for college. I wasn’t mad or anything.”

“But…we’re a team!” Jay said. Carlos had never been through a break-up, but he kind of felt like it would feel like this.

“Bro, we’re still a team! It really wasn’t easy. I love hanging out with you,” he said. Carlos had really had to weigh the scales of being tackled to the ground versus getting to see Jay sweaty and shirtless in a venue where he could watch without it being weird.

“Who’s going to watch my back? I’ve got to do all those practices and games alone?” Jay said.

“Coach is basically your second best friend- “

“-that’s NOT true- “

“-And you also have Gil and Seth and even Chad. All the guys like you now. You’ll be fine. I’m still going to come to your games. I’ll even watch practices and heckle like I usually do. Bro, I’ve just been getting pretty stressed, and I needed more time, so I don’t keep having freak-outs.”

“That’s really why?”

“And…”

“What?”

“I basically survived by safety in numbers for so long that I don’t think I know how to be on my own. It’s been all about what I bring to the gang and my mom, but things are different now and I need to figure out how to just be my own man. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. I guess,” Jay mumbled.

“I really am sorry to ditch you, man,” Carlos said, even though it undermined that speech just a bit.

“it’s fine. Don’t be weird about it. I’m going for a run,” Jay said. He headed out the door.

Carlos let him go. Sometimes Jay got pissed and you just had to wait him out.

As a show of good faith, Carlos did attend practice the other day to watch from the bleachers. When they first joined, Mal and Evie always showed up to keep an eye on them (and piss off the cheerleaders with their presence). They were busy today, as they were most afternoons now, so Carlos was here alone. It felt freeing to be here by choice, not obligation.

Maybe cause he wanted to make it up to him, Carlos spent the time researching Jay’s brand. They knew most of Jafar’s why but still not the how. Carlos took out an old academic journal he’d requested from the library, which featured an article about remote castings Jafar wrote when he was just a sorcerer’s apprentice. It was weird to think of Jafar as a young man, only a few years older than they were now. He probably wouldn’t have been so bitter back then or consumed by power. He would have been smart. Ambitious. Maybe he would have had friends. You don’t get close to a king unless you’re good at making friends.

Carlos looked up from his reading to watch Jay doing passing drills. For just a second, he thought about reneging and asking to get back on the team. Maybe some more reading time wasn’t worth losing that chance to sync with his best friend for a few hours a week. Chances for that were in limited supply and not just because of heredity and homework. Against all odds, it seemed like the four of them would survive to adulthood. They had already become such different people in a few months. It only stood to reason they’d change even more once they were pushed out of this place. The future called. 

Mal picked up the phone from Fairy Godmother’s office on a Tuesday. The story she told FG was an Isle kid asked for this line to be set up but wanted to stay anonymous. Apparently, it’d taken some work to get the phone’s mate into the right hands because it was a couple weeks before Mal was notified that the package had been delivered.

The phones were Evie’s idea. When they were planning for more kids to leave the Isle, they had to consider the ones whose parents actually gave a shit and would want to keep in touch. Carlos specially designed them to accommodate the lack of cellular towers on the Isle and made them one-way so they would be less susceptible to thievery.

Evie also had the idea to make it so calls could only go in one direction, if the student chose. Evie and Jay both set theirs to strictly outgoing, so they could check up if they really wanted to but not expose themselves to their parents’ unwanted vitriol. 

Mal had not opted for that with this phone. It didn’t seem necessary. The man hadn’t reached out even when they lived on the same tiny rock.

She turned on the phone. It had one number programmed into it. She hit dial. After a couple of rings, a man answered.

“Hey there.”

“Hi, Dad,” she said. _Show no fear,_ said her brain. But why should be afraid? He was a thousand miles away.

“I was surprised to get one of these. I’m even more surprised you actually used it,” he said.

“Really? But you’ve always been such an active paternal presence,” she said.

“There it is,” he said, “That good old resentment. I knew it was coming but let me just say you seemed to have turned out just fine without me. You were better off, probably, without me around screwing you up.”

“Fine is an interesting word,” she said, keeping the anger out of the timber of her voice, “I didn’t feel fine when I was growing up in a garbage disposal with the mother of nightmares and you, nowhere to be found.”

“Well, my father devoured me at birth. Grass is always greener, kiddo.”

“You’re not going to get any points for leaving. I turned out how I turned out only because myself, my friends, and Ben.”

“I’ve heard about your lover-boy. Will I be invited to the wedding?”

She scoffed, “You and Mom gotta walk me down the aisle.”

“How is your mother?”

“She’s really into eating crickets lately.”

“Preying on the weak? That’s not new. You kept her, though, right? Didn’t release her into the wild?”

“No. I gotta keep an eye on her.”

“Smart. I chose the opposite strategy myself, but at the time, she could, you know, talk so it made her presence much harder to tolerate.”

“Yeah, well, if I had the option to leave it sooner, I would have too.”

“Okay, okay, enough of the drama. What else is up?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “Steal any souls lately?”

“I got a twelve-year-old to sell me his for a buck fifty, but it wasn’t really official.” He said. Mal snorted.

“No, really, I know you didn’t call for the small talk. What is it?” he said.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“What do you want? To drop someone? Commune with the dead? I know you kids today are always getting your deities crossed, but I’m not actually the guy to call for golden fiddles. Terrible deals I can strike though.”

“I’m not calling for a favor,” she said.

“Then why all this trouble?”  
“I just wanted to talk to you!”

“But about what?”

“I don’t know! Whatever fathers talk about with daughters.”

There were a few seconds of silence and then a laugh.

“Oh, Mally, are you sure you’re mine?” he said, mocking. She’d been mocked by her mother before, but at least then she always knew it was coming. This new flavor of insult made her burn too, but these flames left her as cold as the grave.

“Fuck you,” she said before she hung up.

Mal was hung up doing something this afternoon, so Uma received a _come hither_ text. After final bell, Evie sped back to the dorm. She made the bed and touched up her make-up until she heard Uma’s signature knock on her door.

They were practiced at this by now. Uma straddled Evie’s hips and laced her hands through her hair, leaning in to touch lips to lips. Her tongue was restless, but her thumbs were gently stroking the thin skin of Evie’s cheeks. Uma’s hands were so much rougher in comparison, from years of tightly wielding sword hilts and pulling the ropes of sails. One hand unbuttoned Evie’s shirt, and Uma’s mouth travelled to Evie’s collarbone to-

“Hey, Eves, I- AAH!"

In an instant, Uma rolled off of Evie, who sat up to face their intruder, feeling all the blood that had rushed to her head pulsating under her skin. 

“Carlos! Don’t you knock?” she snapped.

“Never have before,” he said, smirking at them, “Uma, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Shut the door you idiot!” Uma said. He obeyed. Evie fixed her shirt and pressed her comparatively cooler hands to her cheeks.

“So…this is a thing?” Carlos said.

“Sort of,” Evie said at the same time Uma said “No.” Ouch.

“This doesn’t leave this room, understood?” Uma said.

“Does that mean Mal knows?” Carlos said.

“No!” they said together.

“No one knows,” Evie said, “We’d like to keep it that way.” As she spoke, she watched Uma’s face to gauge whether Evie was correctly honoring their agreement. She wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved that Uma had no objections.

“I can keep a secret,” Carlos said, “I really am sorry about barging in. I just came to ask about Jay.”’

“Boyfriend troubles?” Uma said.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Carlos said, scowling.

“Honest mistake,” Uma said, holding up her hands. Evie had to hold in a laugh.

“I gotta go anyway,” Uma said.

“Are you doing anything later?” Evie said, lowering her voice.

“I have this meeting thing but then nothing. I’m running for class president.”

“Really?” Evie said, “What’s your platform?”

“Eat the rich,” Uma said. Evie laughed.

“You have my vote,” she said.

“I’ll get you a button, princess,” Uma said, “Later.”

Uma grabbed her backpack and walked towards, checking Carlos’ shoulder as she left because she was her. She poked her head in the hall and checked whether the coast was clear before ducking out.

“Evie likes a pirate!” Carlos sang.

“Shut up! I will poison you, don’t think I’m past it.”

“But she’s getting you a _button.”_

“Stop talking or it’s arsenic,” Evie said, “Please, not a word to anyone. Being with a merchant kid would ruin Uma’s rep with the pirates.”

“Do you really care about markets versus docks beef anymore?”

“No, but she does,” she said, “And I…I don’t know. I think some of our friends from here would be surprised to see me with someone so Isle.”

“But you’re from the Isle.”

“I don’t have to wear it on my sleeve! I don’t think Uma wants Mal to know either. They had their little thing freshman year.”

“Do you want Mal to know?” Carlos said.

“She’s my best friend. I’d tell her anything,” Evie said.

“So, you do want to tell her?”

“No, but…this is nothing! Like, it’s so nothing telling Mal would be overkill. Uma and I are both just getting something out of our system. Pure exercise and stress relief.”

If it was nothing, then it wasn’t a betrayal to hide it. Evie was absolved of sharing because this was so inconsequential, not because of the fact that if Mal knew something, it was then subject to her two discerning eyes and her blunt mouth. If Mal didn’t know, Mal couldn’t tell Evie that she wasn’t kidding anyone or that coming for Mal’s seconds or a pirate girl was making her look desperate.

Mal would tell Evie if Uma could never like her. Now, she’d be kind about it, but she’d still tell her the truth, and then Evie would have to ask herself why she sent these texts anyway.

But it was all nothing. So, who cares?

“What’s your problem with Jay?” Evie said. Surely, this would be simpler.

Carlos sighed, “I told him I’m quitting tourney.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah. I went to his practice today too, and he pretended like he didn’t even see me. He’ll usually forgive or forget 75% of stuff in 12 hours. I’ve timed it. I haven’t dealt with an ongoing grudge since I fucked up him stealing that fancy pocket-watch.”

“I will remind you now that you told me not to let Jay guilt you into rejoining. You had to quit. You’ve been stretched so thin. You don’t even like tourney.”

“I know, but Old Me was maybe an asshole! A tired asshole but still. It’s not like Jay’s always asking a lot of favors from me. This was my one thing in return.”

“Carlos. You do a lot for Jay because you’re a good friend. He will get over this. It’s Jay. He always does. He’s just kind of fragile right now, but you shouldn’t subject yourself to the sport you hate because of it.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right. I don’t think he’s even that mad at me. He’s just stretched thin too right now. I just worry- what if he does something stupid?”

This was a stupid idea. Jay wasn’t stupid enough that he didn’t know that. But it was ten at night, he’d run fifty suicides in the empty gym, and he knew he wouldn’t be sleeping until he knew why all this had happened. 

The phone rang once. Jay wondered if he should just hang up. It rang twice.

“I almost sold this phone for scraps,” Jafar said. It stung to hear. _He isn’t even your real father. Of course, he doesn’t care if you call._

“Auradon-made. Brand new. It would fetch a good price if you can find someone to reprogram it,” Jay said.

“Yes, the rare phone calls from my brat would diminish the value,” Jafar said, “If only the De Vil boy remained here to do such work. It’s not like you ever send me anything else to stock my shelves. I could be starving here, and you wouldn’t lift a finger to help.”

“The Isle has plenty of pickpockets. You just actually have to pay them.”

“You gallivant with a king while your own father has to sell garbage to eat. Now why do you pester me with a phone call so late at night? I actually have to work in the morning.”

“Don’t you miss me?” Jay said.

“Complete ineptitude and lack of respect is not in low supply here, so I have little reason to. Has that place softened you? Would you like a pat on the head?”

“Because you’re so good for those.”

“There’s that familiar arrogance. A wonder they have not sent you back here yet. Only a matter of time.”

“Shut up,” Jay said.

“How dare you speak to me with such disrespect.”

Jay took a deep breath. He wasn’t a coward. Time to stop playing around.

“I know, Jafar,” he said, “I know what you did to me.”

There was a moment of a silence and then a familiar creaking laugh.

“It took you long enough. My smarts never did rub off. There’s too much of your father in you,” Jafar said, “I wish I’d been there. Tell me about the look on Jasmine’s face when she saw her heir was a dirty little thief.”

“How did you do it? Why did you do it? I get the revenge, but where was the gain? You didn’t even demand a ransom.”

“Being your father was its own reward.”

“And then you let me come here! It doesn’t make sense. Isn’t the first rule of kidnapping that you don’t let the person go?”

“I’ve been watching the news ever since you left, just waiting for the announcement. Odd, it hasn’t come yet. I suppose since they learned it is _you_ , they’re trying to keep it all hush-hush?”

“You can’t get to me anymore,” Jay said, “Just answer my fucking questions!”

“It made the news when they had their other spawn. Your replacements. They were probably grateful they have those proper heirs now that they’ve seen how you’ve been ruined.”

“Tell me why you did it,” Jay growled into the phone.

“It probably horrifies them to see how much you take after me. My pride and joy.”

“I’m _not_ like you.”

“You are though. More than you know- “

“You’re going to die on that Isle, and I’m going to have the crown you always wanted. Your scheme failed,” Jay said. Surely that would get to him, the one thing he’d always coveted now being in Jay’s grasp.

But Jafar just laughed, “Don’t be so sure, boy. I will always be with you.”

The line went dead.

Jay threw the phone against the wall, but the sound of it breaking into a hundred different pieces brought no satisfaction. 

He wished he hadn’t made the call. He’d itched for it though, for weeks needing to hear his voice and bring him this final find for evaluation. Jafar was right. His influence was too firmly molded into Jay to ever go away.

He was too soft for the Isle now but too corrupted for the shiny world his parents inhabited. The few times he’d seen them since the college talk disaster, Jay felt like he had no idea how to even talk to them. His reality hurt them, but he couldn’t fake goodness well enough either.

The only place he’d ever felt at home here was on the tourney field, and even there, he was fenced in by red cards and soft teammates. His friends didn’t struggle anymore like he did. Even Carlos abandoned him so he could do more fucking homework. He was too disgusted to watch Jay’s violent displays anymore. He’d figured out that Jay would never hack it as anything but a brute, and Carlos was too good for that.

Jay wanted to get out of the gym but couldn’t go to bed. His friends would be there, and they’d look at his face and just know he fucked up. 

Maybe he’ll go for a run in the woods. There’d be just enough danger in that to make him feel normal. 

He walked out of the gym. The campus at night was completely, unnervingly silent. He started his jog in the direction of the tree line, enjoying only the sound of his breathing and sneakers hitting brick and-

“Shut up!” someone hissed. Jay stopped and turned towards the noise. The campus was well-lit at night so he could easily see three bodies walking along the wall of an equipment shed he’d just jogged past. 

They could definitely see him too. Their faces were shrouded, but only so many people in Auradon owned tricorn hats.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jay called out.

Uma stood up straight and stepped into the glow of a streetlamp. Her boys backed her up, sending Jay matching glares.

“We could be asking you the same thing, Jay!” Harry said.

“I was working out,” Jay said, gesturing at the exercise clothes he wore.

“He had a much quicker answer than I thought he would,” Harry said.

“You better get home,” Uma said, “It’s getting past your bedtime.”

Jay snorted and rolled his eyes, “You don’t scare me, Uma. You better not be following me.”

“As if we have nothing better to do than watch you throw balls to the wall.”

“So, what are you doing?”

“None of your business.”

“Come on, just tell me, I really don’t care if you’re breaking some rules.”

“Is underground fight club against the rules?” Gil said. Uma punched him in the chest.

“Did you say fight club?” Jay said.

“No,” Harry and Uma said at the same time Gil said “Yeah!”

“You have to take me there,” Jay said.

“Fat chance,” Harry said, “You’ll squeal.”

“I’m not a rat!” Jay said.

“You’re too close to Mal,” Uma said, “You all clearly drank the sweet, pure Auradonian punch and lost your touch.”

“That’s bullshit! I’m still badder than anyone on the Isle.”

“Really? Because I heard the weirdest rumor about you. Something about you acting really friendly with some royalty,” Uma said.

Jay kept his face blank, but panic rushed through him. Had the rumors already begun? They’d been so careful, yet Jay had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, where he went from being the big, bad prince of thieves to poor, stolen prince Ali. His whole life Jay never wanted to be anyone’s victim. He wasn’t ready to let that go.

So, he flashed his best smile, “Whatever you heard was bullshit. I could beat everyone in your fight club. I bet that’s why you didn’t want me to come. I get it. I’m out of your weight class.”

Harry swore and pulled his fists up, but Uma just laughed.

“Alright, tough guy, I guess you can come,” she said, “Follow us.”

They didn’t have far to go. Jay followed the three into the athletic equipment shed they’d been walking past. Of course, this being Auradon, the shed was bigger than Jafar’s entire store.

Uma opened the door, and Jay’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. The space had been transformed into a pretty sweet clubhouse. The center of the room was cleared for a fighting ring with its boundaries marked with red spray-paint. In the back, a stack of gym mats served as a bar. Freddie Facilier was pouring out drinks. Loud screeching guitars played from a boom box. Pretty much every Villain Kid at Auradon Prep was there, the notable exception being Jay’s friends.

“Woah,” Jay said, “This is sick.”

“It’s the one place where we can be ourselves,” Uma said.

“It’s not just your gang either,” he said, noting other merchant kids like him and some whose families who lived way out by the forests.

“Look, if we go back to the Isle, we’re sworn enemies. But here, we all have more in common with each other than with any of the mainlanders.”

“So, when do we fight?” Jay said.

“After we drink,” Hook said. He threw a chummy arm around Jay and led him to the back. Usually, Jay would never let one of Uma’s lay a hand on him in public, but hey, it a was a different world, and it wasn’t like Harry hadn’t laid hands on him (and most of the Isle) already.

“Jay!” Freddie said, “We’ve got a contender now, ladies and gentlemen.”

“Get me a drink,” he said. Freddie smiled as she poured something pink into a paper cup. Jay threw it back and savored the burn of Isle wine. It tasted better than he remembered. The fruit in this batch probably didn’t start out rotted. Not that you drank it for the taste.

“My own recipe,” Freddie said. Jay knew it well. On Saturday nights, a coin or a trade got you into the Facilier’s market, where the merchandise was stowed away, and people danced among the stalls. Jay would come to steal from the drunk and stay to dance, sometimes with his gang, sometimes looking for a stranger’s company. It was easy for him. All he had to do was smile, and people came to him. Girls, guys. You could only touch people without appearing weak if you were fighting or in the same gang or in places like that, where the booze and the dark offered a little grace.

“We’re up first,” Gil said, smiling with lips pink from the wine. Jay had found Gil at Facilier’s many times before and led him behind the stalls. This wine must be going to his head if he was remembering that.

“Let’s go,” Jay said.

“Okay, the rules are no weapons. Try not to go for the face. First one knocked outside the ring loses. Winner takes the next contestant,” Freddie said.

Jay had never felt so ready. He had been holding back his strength for months. It was a waste to have put on all this muscle yet only get to hit bags. It wasn’t just that Jay was strong. He had speed and real moves, picked up from the Isle’s best assassins who would teach you how to really fight if you didn’t mind learning the hard way. The only way to improve was to fight someone better than you so Jay let those guys beat him into the dirt until he could give it right back because Jay wanted to be the best.

Gil was easy. He and his brothers all fought the same, preferring brute strength over the strategy. Gil and Jay were each the muscle of their respective groups. They traded some punches and each dodged or deflected. Gil landed a solid one to his side, and the pain felt like an old friend. Jay got low and punched his side before dancing to the left. He dropped to the ground and kicked Gil’s feet out from under him while he tried to turn. Another punch, and Gil was on his back, one hand lying outside of the ring. 

The crowd surrounding their circle whooped. The audience’s energy nourished his.

“Who’s next?” Jay said.

“Aye,” Harry said, shrugging off his jacket. Jay had usually faced Harry with hook or sword in hand. He wasn’t strong as Jay or Gil, but he was strong enough and light on his feet. Without his hook, he knew his best strategy was to be quick and evasive, tiring Jay out before he tried to attack.

Harry wasn’t the sharpest though. Jay psyched him out with a kick, Harry swerved out of the way, and Jay spun around to land another kick square in Harry’s ribs. He stumbled backwards.

“Oh, that’s how we’re playing,” Harry said as he regained his footing. He was still smiling.

“Less talking, more fighting,” Jay said. Harry came running at him, and Jay dropped, pushing at Harry’s legs so he went flying. Harry rolled into the fall and sprung back up, his back heel just inside the ring. Jay pushed towards him, letting his punches fly.

Harry stumbled and fell to the ground but still in the circle. Jay kicked him in the ribs, and the crowd went “oooh”.

“Hey, get off!” Uma said from the sidelines.

“Come on, Uma, you gone soft?” he taunted, “I don’t mind two on one.”

“Make it three,” Gil said, cracking his knuckles. Jay only laughed. He dodged Uma’s lunge at him, kicking her side. Uma was crafty as hell and solid with a sword, but her hand-to-hand combat had room for improvement.

Gil came at him next, and Jay threw a punch, making easy contact with his chin. Uma jumped on his back, but he ducked and flipped her over. Then Harry was up again, laughing as he encircled Jay’s arms so Gil could land a solid punch to the gut.

Jay kicked his legs up, knocking Gil in the face with his boot and putting enough of his weight on Harry to break the hold. Harry stumbled to the ground again, Jay falling on top of him but rolling out. This time Harry was out of bounds, and he stayed out.

Next Gil came at Jay while Uma skulked the perimeter of the ring.

“Left!” Uma would say, and Gil could follow her quicker than he could respond to Jay’s moves on his own. Usually, Jay would try to be more tactical and evasive, but tonight, he just really wanted to hit stuff, so he kept raining punches on Gil until finally enough landed that the guy was knocked off his balance again and kicked out of the ring.

Now, only Uma remained, and she wasn’t going to cry uncle. She knew her best bet was to stay out of reach and tire him out chasing her. When he did get close, she fought back dirty, scratching, grabbing, pulling his hair. It was pretty fucking annoying and threw him off his rhythm. He was swinging harder and harder, desperate to make some kind of contact.

Uma came at him from the side, nails out, and he kicked her in the gut as hard as he could. She landed on her back with a hard smack. The sound made him snap out of his battle instincts and the whole room go quiet.

_Fuck._ He should have held back more. He was fighting like someone might actually try to kill him. Stupid, stupid, evil and stupid.

He leaned over her still form. Her eyes still closed. What if she had a concussion or a head wound?

“Uma?” Jay said, “Are you okay? Fuck, Uma, I’m so- “

That’s when Uma kicked him right in the balls.

Jay swore and stumbled into a sitting position, right on the edge of the ring. Uma sat up and laughed.

“Uncle?” she said.

“Uncle,” he said, “Asshole.”

“Don’t take my invite and then act like an asshole, asshole. Also, I know you were not about to apologize in a room full of Isle kids.”

“Never,” he said, “Next round is on me?”

Uma smiled, “Freddie! Prepare the drinks!”

Other people continued to fight, but the four of them switched to competing in the form of drinking each other under the table. No easy feat when your opponents are three pirates. Jay’s high-protein, low-sugar diet had turned him into a bit of a lightweight, but they didn’t need to know that. 

The drinks and the music and the adrenaline still pumping through him made Jay feel more relaxed than he had in a long time. Maybe since he came to Auradon. The pirates sitting next to him might slit his throat, but he knew the rules of engagement. The danger felt like a comfort.

Uma and Gil went closer to watch the next few matches. Jay and Harry hung back, shitting on a stack of mats by the bar. 

“I’ll bet you another shot that Zevon wins,” Jay said.

“No, let’s make it interesting,” Harry said, “If I win, I get a kiss.” Jay snorted. Classic Harry.

“Been a minute. That _was_ you, right?”  
“As if anyone has ever kissed me and forgotten about it,” Harry said.

After a few more minutes of struggle, Zevon fell to Celia’s killer roundhouse kick.

“Guess you won,” Jay said. He leaned over to press his lips to Harry’s. He didn’t care who saw. No one could call him weak and walk away from it.

Harry wasn’t satisfied with a peck. He put his hand on the back of Jay’s head and pushed his tongue into his mouth. Gods, it had been ages since he’d done this, but it felt as natural as stepping back into that ring earlier.

Harry put a hand on his thigh and pulled his mouth away. He got up and walked away, telling Jay to follow with a look.

They went behind a tall, rolled up cheerleading mat and continued making out. Again, this was easy. Just heat and friction, two bodies and wanting touches, so much simpler than the real world.

“Just like old times,” Harry said in that annoying accent. It didn’t kill the attraction though. Jay moved his lips to Harry’s neck, biting and kissing the rough skin.

“Lucky me, getting you for free,” Harry said, chuckling under his breath. 

“What?” Jay said, freezing and pulling back. He couldn’t be talking about that. Jay had pushed that to the back of his mind, there was no place for it here.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Jay said.

“I’ve heard the rumors,” Harry said.

Jay shut his eyes, trying not to remember the dark room that smelled like dead flowers and empty stomachs. It was easier than breaking into a house or beating someone up, wasn’t it? Jay was good with people, but it didn’t take much skill to be used.

“Oh, they’ve made you ashamed?” Harry said, clucking his tongue, “I’ve noticed Auradon loves its shame.”

“It wasn’t…they aren’t wrong,” Jay mumbled. His head was cloudy from the drinks, he couldn’t snap out of it.   
“They’re the guilty ones, darling.”

“I’m not your darling,” Jay said, “I should go.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean anything. It was just a joke. Come on, we were having a good time, weren’t we?”

Jay huffed. He pushed Harry up against the wall, picking up where they’d left off. Jay wasn’t ready to leave this place yet. He’d rather relive the past with all its problems than reenter the present.


	7. Chapter 7

“Jay, could we speak for a moment?” Fairy Godmother said at the end of Sorcery class, while Jay was packing up his stuff and getting to ready to head out with his crew.

A stone dropped into Jay’s stomach. This must be about breaking into the gym to work out. Or breaking into the shed to be in that fight club. Or breaking into the library to hook up with Harry. Twice.

Look, he’s been _really_ stressed.

His friends stopped too and looked at him. He shrugged. Mal was the first to turn back and walk out the door, Carlos and Evie following. It kind of annoyed him how now they so readily just left him alone with a teacher.

He opened his mouth to start explaining how that could have been anyone in Periodicals, but she spoke first.

“I wanted to talk to you about your schedule for next semester,” she said.

“Oh,” he said, “Really?”

“Is there something else you want to talk about?” she said.

“No! I mean, yes, let’s talk about classes. I signed up for all the ones I need to graduate, right?”  
“Yes, and I know that it’s a little tight fitting in all your required credits, since you have to make up for…”

“For being a flunky at Evil School?”

“Your nontraditional education,” she said, “I wanted to make you aware of an alternative course selection, from a catalog only offered to select students.”

“What kind of students?” he said. Was this a cushy way of telling him he was too dumb for the general offerings?

“Students of noble heritage,” she said, lowering her voice.  
“Like…royals?” he said, matching her quiet tone. He looked over his shoulder to check that the halls were clear.

“Yes, although we try not to use labels such as that. There is no hierarchy within the classroom,” she said.

“Except for when you’re in a classroom that only royal kids get access too,” he mumbled. FG pretended not to hear him. 

“Part of Auradon Prep’s founding vision was to be a place for young rulers to meet in their youth and share ideas while also receiving formal training for the positions that they would one day inherit. Students who pursue this course of study learn about diplomacy, governing styles, the minutiae of etiquette, and receive individual counselling as well.” FG handed him a packet. He thumbed it open to a list of courses, scanning the names.

“Building a Court: From Viziers to Footmen, Genealogy and Titles 101, Curtseys, Bows, and Handshakes?” he read aloud.

“That last one is a lot more interesting than it sounds,” FG said.

“Thanks for giving me this, but I don’t really think this is right for me.”

“Jay,” she said, “You were informed that _I_ was informed, correct?”

“I know,” he said, looking over his shoulder again for eavesdroppers.

“I think it would be prudent to take advantage of these tools while you can. The greatest resource for understanding your new role can be your peers, who have years of experience in preparing to inherit.”

“I’m not inheriting anything,” he whispered, “I mean, we don’t know. Everything’s still up in the air. Besides, if I take those classes, the secret will be out so…”

“Do you expect this to still be confidential by next year?”

“Kind of. Probably. I think?”

“Of course, it is entirely your business. I just got the impression from your mother that the timeline was more expedient. My mistake.”

“You talked to my mother?”

“She asked for a review of your education and grades, as a parent has the right to request. I told her you were a very hard worker.”

“Did she say I should be taking these classes?” he said.

“She did inquire about them in regard to you, since Prince Aziz is on this course of study. As your educator, I would be remiss not to present every available opportunity to you.”

Well, that changed things. If this was coming from Jasmine, he couldn’t just say no outright. He didn’t want to offend her or make things difficult.

“Can I think about it?” he said.

“Of course,” she said, “If you need more time, we can delay your registration period as well. Whatever is best for you, dear.”

“Okay. Uh. Thanks for this,” he said, holding up the packet. He stuffed it in his backpack and hustled out the door.

In the privacy of his room, Jay scanned the list of courses with dread. It wasn’t even that the subjects themselves sounded boring. It was the thought of who else would be taking him. Bad enough Jay would already be completely clueless on all this royal stuff, but he’d have Audrey and Chad and their whole crowd watching him fuck it all up five days week. They’d probably laugh at him and make snooty comments about how he can’t tell his forks apart. Or worse, Jay would turn into one of them, another royal snob who cared about manners than anything real.

The thought made him shudder. He wanted to give FG back her packet and laugh in her face. But his mom was definitely going to ask about it. Obviously, she wanted her kid to know these kinds of things. In her world, this stuff mattered. He should make an effort, for her. She’d been through enough disappointment

It’s not like Jay was really excited about any of the classes he had already signed up for. It would be a pretty small sacrifice, in the scheme of things.

The secret was the issue though. He kind of was hoping they could wait until after graduation next year before telling anybody. That would be a clean break. He could start over at college, and the whole story would probably follow, but people would just have to accept it all at once. That didn’t bother him as much. He just didn’t like watching the change in people’s eyes

He needed a run. He’d run all the way to the lake and back and maybe come up with some answers. It hadn’t worked yet, but the woods did calm him. He liked being surrounded by nothing but trees, their pine smell, the birds calling. Jay didn’t even change out of his class clothes. He was fine if he had sneakers on. He used to run in boots missing soles and laces. 

Jay could almost hear his own thoughts again when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He hated the cell phones. They would have been useful on the Isle, but here all they were good for was letting people bother him even when he was alone.

It was his mom. Evil, what if she asked about the royal classes? She seemed to always want to know everything he was doing or planning to do. Their meetings sometimes felt like interrogations. Or like she was speaking a language he barely knew. He just tried to nod and get by on the pidgin he could manage.

“Hey…!” he said. Neither Jasmine nor Mom felt right so he just sort of called her nothing.

“Hello,” she said, “Is now a good time? You sound tired.”

“Just catching my breath. I was on a run,” he said, “What’s up?”

“We’re in between meetings right now. They’re going well. A bit boring. I wanted to let you know we’re scheduled to return home to Agrabah next week.”

“Oh,” he said. Part of him felt a little relieved, another part hurt that they wanted to leave so soon.

“I know it’s barely been any time at all. We pushed two weeks, but Dalia is only six, and she’s never had us gone for so long. Neither my father nor our other close family members know either. They’re asking for explanations we can’t give over the phone. If we could stay longer, we would, but we’ll be back before you know it.”

“I get it. You guys are kind of important people,” he said. She chuckled.

“Before we go, we would like to have you around for dinner this Saturday,” she said, “To celebrate your birthday.”

“That’s this Saturday? Wow, I didn’t even know.”

“It’ll be our first together in 17 years.”

“Woah. Wait, does that make me about to be 18?” he said, “That’s a year older than I thought I was.”

“Oh, yes, I thought you’d realized,” Jasmine said.

“No. That’s so weird.”

“Even more reason to celebrate,” she said, “We’ll have a lovely party. You should invite your friends.”

“They’ll be down,” he said, “It sounds like fun.” He’d never had a birthday party, but they were supposed to be fun, right?  
“Is there anything special you want to eat? I know you are pretty health-conscious, but would a cake be okay?”

“Cake is good,” he said, “I’ll eat anything.”

“Perfect. 6 o’clock then. I need to head back into this meeting, but I’ll send you the details.”  
“Can’t wait,” he said, “Thank you, again.”

“It’s my pleasure. I’ll see you then.”

The next day, the mailroom told him he had received his first piece of mail ever. He opened it up to find underneath some black tissue paper a folded white dress shirt. A notecard inside the box read:

_An early birthday gift. See you Saturday. Love, Mom_

Alone in his room, he tried on the shirt. It wasn’t flashy, but it was fancy. The white was so white it shined, and there was embroidery on the high collar in gold thread.

It really wasn’t like anything else he owned. These days Jay wore his tourney warm-up suit everywhere, but even his nicest outfit, a formal shirt and jacket Evie made for him, was cobbled together from cheaper fabrics. He’d been planning to wear that on Saturday, but the note made it pretty clear his mom sent this shirt for that night. Apparently, this event would be a step up nicer from Pizza Pizza. 

It would offend her if he didn’t wear it. Jay’s basic knowledge of manners covered that. So, on Saturday, he pulled the shirt back out of its box.

“Shit, is this wrinkled?” Jay said to Carlos. He tried to tuck it into his pants to pull the fabric tighter, but he was really more of an untucked shirt guy. It didn’t even work. He looked like a wrinkly nerd. 

Carlos walked over and whistled, “Fancy shirt.”

“My mom sent it,” he said, “I think I fucked it up. It’s all messy.”

“We have an iron,” Carlos said.  
“We do? Why?”

“The room came with one. Princes wear a lot of fancy shirts.”

“Apparently. Do you know how to use it?”

Carlos rolled his eyes, “Give me it.”

Jay unbuttoned it and threw it at Carlos who had procured the iron from his closet. He set down a clean towel on the coffee table and spread the shirt out over it. Jay watched him run the hot iron over the fabric, leaving it smooth and wrinkle-free.

“Are you guys ready?” Jay turned to see Mal climbing in through the window. She usually insisted on entering this way as a means of “keeping her skills sharp”. Following was Evie, gracefully, and Ben, less so.

“Happy birthday, Jay!” Evie said.

“Aw, guys, you look so domestic,” Mal said.

“Shut up,” Carlos said. He held up the shirt for a last inspection and then handed it back to Jay to put on.

“Happy birthday, man,” Ben said. He waited until Jay’s torso was covered before going for a bro-hug.   
“Thanks, man,” he said, “I mean, it’s whatever. We don’t have to treat it like a big deal or anything. It’s pretty stupid to celebrate someone just for being born. Total Auradon thing.”

“People had birthdays on the Isle?” Evie said, “I did.”

“I did too. Fae are big on numbers. Mother drew me a weird ritual bath on my sixteenth. There was pig’s blood,” Mal said.

“Remember when Anthony Tremaine threw that great party for his sixteenth?” Evie said.

“No? I wasn’t invited to that,” Jay said.

“Yeah, you used to throw him into dumpsters,” Mal said.

“On your behalf! Were you invited?”

“Obviously or he’d have been banished.”

“I wasn’t invited either,” Carlos said.  
“Yeah, but you weren’t cool,” Jay said.

“Jay, this shirt is gorgeous,” Evie said, delicately touching the fabric with her finger.

“My mom, uh, sent it. As a gift,” he said.

“Ooh, Jay’s mommy picks out his clothes,” Mal mocked.  
“Ooh, you’re hilarious,” he said back.

“It’s okay. My mom picks out my clothes too,” Ben said.

“Jasmine has excellent taste. She could pick out anything she wants for me,” Evie said.

“It’s just the one shirt,” Jay said. He grabbed his leather jacket to throw on and added his old, reliable fingerless gloves. There, now the whole ensemble was a lot less stuffy.

“Is everyone ready to go?” Ben said, “I’m driving.”

“Woah, where’s the chauffer?” Carlos said.

“Let Ben drive. He never gets to,” Mal said.

“I’ve gotten used to a certain lifestyle of luxury,” Carlos grumbled. They left through the window and walked over to Ben’s SUV, parked right outside the dorm. Mal let Jay have shotgun since it was his birthday, but she retained the right to music control.

“Okay, guys, seatbelts on,” Ben said.

“A seatbelt will wrinkle this fabric,” Evie said.

“Seatbelts are for weenies,” Carlos said.

“Guys, click it or ticket,” Ben said.

“Yes, guys, let’s all entertain the idea that the king gets traffic tickets,” Mal said.

“If I was driving a group of unbelted passengers, I would ASK for one. It would only be fair,” Ben said.

“Sometimes, Ben says stuff so corny, I have to wonder if he’s just fucking with us,” Carlos said. They all laughed, and that sound with Mal’s loud rock music and the sweet winter air coming in through the cracked window, sated something Jay hadn’t realized he’d been craving.

“Is it just me or we have not all been in the same place together for a while?” Jay said.

“You’re right. This is nice, guys,” Evie said, “Where have you all been?”

“Where have you been?” Mal said, “You’re never even in the room. Your sewing machine told me it’s lonely.”

“I mean, you’re the one always off on diplomacy things.”

“I’ve barely seen Jay either. Whatever he’s training for, I’m afraid to know. He’s always working out,” Carlos said.

“It’s just tourney,” Jay said, “You’d see me more if you stayed on the team.”

“If tourney practice is now ten hours a day, I’m not having any regrets,” Carlos said.

“It’s not easy to look this good,” he said.

“That’s sad you have to work at it. I wouldn’t know,” Carlos said. Jay grabbed the closest projectile he could find- a breath mint in a cupholder and flicked it at Carlos’ head. This set off Mal complaining because it hit her instead, Ben threatening to turn the car around, and Evie throwing back bobby pins in Carlos’ defense. 

Jay was almost sad when they pulled up in front of the embassy. Not sad to see his parents, just to be losing another minute just the five of them.

Jay led them to the right townhouse, and the door opened before he could knock. A different soldier from last time bowed to him before stepping aside so they could enter.

“Uh, thanks…” he mumbled to the soldier. His friends followed him in and gaped at the bigger-on-the-inside-ness. Jay again got that itchy feeling on the back of his neck whenever he saw a wall that should not be so far away.

“Welcome!” Jasmine said, walking down a grand staircase with husband, son, and servant on her heels. She looked really nice, in a dark purple dress with large gold earrings hanging from each ear. Jay suddenly felt underdressed, even though he was wearing what she picked out.

“Happy birthday,” Jasmine said, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

“Happy birthday,” Aladdin said, beaming at him. He sort of opened his arms like he was going for a hug but then reached out to shake Jay’s hand instead. Next to him, Aziz echoed the birthday wishes and didn’t try to initiate any sort of physical contact. Jay remembered with a shameful swoop in his stomach how he’d scared the kid that night outside his room.

“Let us take your coats,” Jasmine said. The servant held out his arms for them to hand them to.

“Do you need a new winter coat? This is so light,” Jasmine said as Jay passed his leather jacket over.

“It’s warm enough. Evie made it,” he said. 

“Evie is very talented, and it’s very stylish,” Jasmine said, winking at Evie, “It just gets so cold in the capital. Also, your gloves are fingerless.”

“Better for climbing,” Jay said.

“We are from the desert, dear. We’re not used to it dipping below 75,” Aladdin said.

“Touché,” she said, “Please join us in the state room for pre-dinner refreshments.

“Thank you for having us,” Ben said, as they walked down a long hall, “I’ve never been to the Agrabah embassy before. This magical architecture is astounding.”

“It’s amazing,” Mal said, reverently. 

“Could you do this sort of expansion spell on our closet, Mal?” Evie said.

“Expansion’s hard. Shrinking’s easier. I could shrink all your clothes,” Mal said.

“Pass. That could ruin my tailoring.”

“I heard you guys have pet tigers. Are they here?” Carlos said. Jay told him he didn’t think so, but Carlos had left Dude in Jane’s care tonight just in case there were any apex predators afoot.

“Unfortunately, no, they reside at the palace,” Jasmine said, “Also, they’re more family than pets.”

They walked into a different room than the one where Jay and Coach met. This one’s walls were covered in a mosaic of brightly colored tiles. The space was large enough that it could have entertained five times their number. Above their heads was a high, glass-domed ceiling which showed a sky full of stars.

“Wow,” Mal breathed. Jay and the rest were too stunned to speak. How could a person live in something this beautiful?

Once they recovered from the awe, Carlos and Jay made a beeline to a large table laid out with food. Their friends hung back to ask Jasmine questions about the building.

“I feel underdressed,” Carlos said in a lowered voice before stuffing his mouth with a flaky crusted something. Jay grabbed one too. It was filled with meat. He wasn’t sure what kind. Whatever it was really good.

“Thank Evil, I thought it was just me,” Jay whispered back between chews.

“You look fine. I’m wearing shorts,” Carlos said.

“The shorts are classic though. You look good,” he said.

“Your house, your rules,” Carlos said, winking at him, “I wish I could watch my exits though.” Jay laughed. He wanted to say he did too, but his dad had drifted into earshot. Jay also wanted to throw an arm around Carlos, but that would be dumb. That was something he did when he wanted to protect him, and they weren’t in any danger.

“So, how do you guys not get lost in here?” Carlos said to Jay’s dad, who looked grateful to have been invited into the conversation.

“It’s pretty neat, actually. Our friend, Genie, keyed our blood into the wards so we can navigate it. It also has some security features. Anyone who enters the house with ill will towards the family gets trapped, that sort of thing.”

“That is so wicked,” Carlos said, “I’m studying wards for our big Intermediate Sorcery project. If it’s a blood ward, would Jay be able to key into it?”

“Yes, you should,” Aladdin said.

“I don’t know. I keep getting kind of dizzy if I look at the walls too long,” Jay said.  
“I did too, at first. That’s because it’s djinn magic. It clicked better when I forgot to think about it,” Aladdin said, “You both are taking a sorcery class?”

“Yeah, it’s awesome!” Carlos said.

“It’s okay. We mostly watch Mal do the fun stuff or pretend to work on our final paper,” Jay said.

“That’s great though. I didn’t get very far in school, but education is so important,” Aladdin said.

“Uh, yeah,” Jay said. Okay, did his dad think he sounded ungrateful for being bored in class? Jay felt almost competitive, like did this guy think Jay had it so easy?

Carlos launched into talking about his final project because he’d talk about it to any willing ear. Aziz even looked up from his plate of snacks to listen, nodding like he understood Carlos’ complicated theory or at least like he wanted them to think he did. Jay had heard it all before. He was trying to listen in on the Agrabah history lesson Jasmine was giving across the room. He’d tried to look up information about the place, but he’d start, and then the sheer size of his ignorance overwhelmed him, and he’d give up. It’d be weird if he walked over there and interrupted though right now.

“So, then that all goes back to the Russo Principle which basically posits a motherboard run on magic,” Carlos finished. 

“I don’t think I’d even know half of those words in Arabic,” Aladdin said, “Aziz, can you dumb that down for me?”

“It would take all night,” Aziz said dryly. Aladdin threw back his head and laughed, and Aziz’s straight face broke into a smile. That was their little thing. The doofus and the brain routine. It was cute, if you thought that kind of thing was funny.

“What’s your project on?” Aziz said to Jay.

“Uh…crystal balls?” he said.

“Interesting,” Aziz said.

Before Jay could make it any clearer that he was going to fail this class, a waiter came over with a tray of glass flutes, filled with something bubbly.

“Is this champagne?” Carlos said.

“It is sparkling cider, sir,” the waiter said.

“At home, you’d be old enough for a glass at dinner on a special occasion, but we played it safe since we’re in the capital,” Aladdin said, “The king seems a little…”

“Goodie-goodie?” Jay said, before he could stop himself. Aladdin laughed. 

“Yeah, good call,” Jay said. On a camping trip, they’d actually convinced Ben to have some vodka Jay had swiped. Ben had gotten really giggly and then puked in a bush. He would definitely be too scandalized to drink it in front of someone’s parents.

Jasmine cleared her throat, and Aladdin walked over to stand with his arm around her waist, like they’d rehearsed this. They raised their glasses and looked to Jay. The eyes of the rest of the room followed them. 

“To our Ali,” Jasmine said, “Finally at home again for his first birthday in seventeen years. And to the wonderful young man that he’s become. We love you more than words.”

Jay’s face was hot. His friends were all smiling so sweetly, and he wished they’d never graduated from punching each other to show affection. Worse was his parents who really did look at him like he solved every problem they’d ever had, like the brightest, most interesting, best eighteen-year-old in the world. They had no idea.

“Thanks,” he squeaked, like a little mouse though he used to be a cobra.

“Before we eat, we also have a small something for you,” Jasmine said. She walked over to an end-table and opened a drawer, procuring a square golden box.

“Happy birthday, love,” she said, handing it to him.

“You can open it now, if you like,” Aladdin said. It didn’t really feel like a suggestion.

Jay pulled carefully on the thick golden paper and tried not to think of how lucky he’d feel if he just found this paper among the garbage on the barge, nevermind what was wrapped in it.

Inside was a velvet box. Jay flipped open its top to reveal a golden watch.

It looked like gold. No, it must be real. He almost reached out a finger to scratch it, but that would look like he doubted it or like he was trying to see how much it was worth. This was from royalty. It had to be real.

Which meant that Jay had just been given a golden watch. To keep.

“Woah,” he said. You could never accuse Jay of not knowing the value of this gift. Jafar wouldn’t even know how to sell something like this because there would be nothing of equal worth it could be bought with, but he’d be pleased, even if he tried to pretend that he wasn’t. Jay wanted to stuff it in his pocket because no one would be foolish enough to actually wear this where another thief could slip it off like that.

Unless, of course, you lived here.

“Woah,” he repeated.

“It’s traditional for a young man to receive a watch when he comes of age,” his mother said.

“Right,” he said, as if this isn’t his first proper birthday gift ever, and he actually knew to expect this sort of treasure just for making it to eighteen.

“It’s beautiful,” Evie said.

“Yeah,” Jay said. It was so shiny he could see his own reflection.

“I hope it fits,” Jasmine said, “I didn’t know your size.”

“I don’t know my wrist size either,” he said, laughing. He didn’t know some people knew their wrist sizes. He didn’t know who his own parents were until a month ago so go figure.

“Well, try it on and see,” she said. Again, it didn’t feel like an option. Jay had taken a lot of watches off but never put one on that was his. It was really heavy. The links of the gold band felt cold on his wrist.

“It fits,” he said. He moved his hand a little. The weight surprised him.

“Wonderful,” Jasmine said.

“Looks good,” Aladdin said.

“Yeah,” Carlos said, “It’s nice.”

“Yeah,” Jay said, “Sorry, I’m just, uh, kind of speechless.”

“As every good hostess knows, once the people have run out of things to say, it’s time to eat,” Jasmine said, “Let’s head into the dining room.”

The dining room was also the most insanely beautiful room Jay had ever been inside. Could you put real gold into paint? Apparently! Also, into tablecloths and candlesticks and, ironically, silverware.

They were being served one course at a time, and the chef came out with each one to describe what was in it. That was pretty helpful since Jay had never eaten most foods not intended for pigs and flies.

“Wow, I’ve never had lamb, and I think I love it,” Carlos said, “I mean, I’m kind of thinking of cute baby lambs, but it’s too delicious for me to really care.”

“Are any of you vegetarians? I should have asked before,” Jasmine said.

“No. I’ve thought about it, but it feels weird to ever rule out meat entirely,” Carlos said.

“It’d be hard for you. You need to up your protein intake enough as is,” Jay said.

“Yes, thank you, you remind me every day,” Carlos said.

“Dude gets more protein than you do,” Jay said.

“I don’t think I could ever go vegetarian either. Squirrel soup used to be my favorite dish,” Evie said, “Apparently, people don’t eat it that much here.”

“Yeah, I had to have a long conversation with Gil about not hunting any of the squirrels or raccoons wandering around campus,” Mal said. 

“Raccoons, really?” Ben said, wrinkling his nose.

“They’re a delicacy,” Evie said, “Or they were, at home.”

Carlos elbowed Jay’s side, “You hear how these rich kids were eating gourmet raccoons?”

It was an old joke. Jay, townie rat to his bones, liked to mock his friends’ castle up-bringing’s. He wasn’t laughing now. He wanted to scream.

Why were they being so frank about Isle talk in front of his parents? He thought they were taking it slow! Did they think he’s told them every awful little detail after a few…well, it has been some time now. Maybe it was weird that Jay hadn’t told them more.

Another course arrived. The conversation moved on to politics. Unfortunately, though, it circled from tax breaks to Mal losing her mind.

“Our next pilot program is focused on reforming the schools on the Isle for the kids who can’t or won’t leave. I’ll be overseeing it myself this summer,” Mal said.

“Wait, you’re going back there?” Jay said. He hadn’t spoken in like twenty minutes. Everyone looked at him in surprise. 

“Yeah? I thought you knew,” Mal said.

“I mean, yeah, but not like hard plans. When are you going?”

“I’ll be going back and forth a few times. Our first survey is in June.”

“What are you doing? Who’s turf? Who’s going to watch your back?”

“Walking around Dragon Hall, nobody’s now, and me, myself and I.”

“You’re going _alone_?”

“Hawkins is coming,” Mal said, referring to her and Ben’s usual bodyguard.

“ _Hawkins?_ Has Hawkins ever been in a fight outside of a training gym?” he said.

“I’ll be going too,” Ben said.

“Oh, great, so when someone comes after you, Hawkins won’t even be focused on Mal.”

“Calm down, it will be fine. I’m learning how to use my magic under the barrier. Everyone’s still really afraid of me since I defeated my mom. I’ve got plenty of allies. It’s not the same place as it used to be. Uma even said it’s kind of boring.”

“When did you ask Uma?” Evie said.

“The other day. I’m going to ask for her to help. She’s still Shrimpy, but she’s got good ideas,” Mal said.

“Take me with you too,” Jay said.

“Yeah, you can come. I’d love the help.”

“You want to go back there?” Jasmine said.

“I mean, no,” he said, “But someone’s gotta watch Mal.”

“No, someone does not,” Mal said, “Don’t go if that’s why you’re going.”

“Don’t go at all! It’s dangerous. Jafar is still there.”

“I can handle him,” Jay said. Jasmine scoffed.

“You won’t be setting foot on that Isle,” she said.

“I go where I want,” he said.

“He could hurt you. He will try to hurt you!”

“He can’t do anything he hasn’t already done,” Jay said. Jasmine gasped.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, “I didn’t mean that. I mean it’s fine. It wasn’t, it wasn’t as bad as you think. I know it sounds all bad, but. I’m not afraid of him. He never did anything more awful than-I’m trying to say I didn’t even have it so hard. He wasn’t _that_ bad.” 

“How could he not be?” Jasmine said. She was offended, as if Jay had he wanted to go back and live with Jafar. Shit. 

“I just mean, it wasn’t, I didn’t have anything to compare it to. That’s just how parents were. I thought,” Jay said, “I mean, it wasn’t like…” Jay gestured weakly at his friends, horrified by the shipwreck that was Jay trying to use his words.

“Compared to other people, I always felt like he wasn’t that bad,” Jay said finally.

“Isle standards of child-rearing are very different,” Mal said slowly.

“I suppose it’s a relief to hear you weren’t mistreated,” Aladdin said.

“Well,” Jay said, “I mean, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Just don’t worry about it.”

“I cannot stop worrying about it! It was our job to protect you, and we failed!” Jasmine said.

“But it doesn’t matter! Even if that bad shit- sorry, stuff- happened, I’m here now. I don’t even care anymore. I turned out alright. So, we can all just move on, okay?”

“Jay, you don’t have to pretend. We can talk about it if you want to,” Evie said, the whites of her worried eyes contrasting with her thick black mascara.

“We didn’t grow up in perfect circumstances either,” Aladdin said, “We can handle it.”

“How do you know you can handle it if you don’t know what it is?” Jay snapped.

“Because we’re your parents, and we’ll take care of you no matter what,” he said.

“I don’t need to be taken care of!”

“They’re just trying to help,” Carlos said.

“I don’t need help! I have been looking out for myself my whole life. I’m not a little kid anymore, and I don’t need parents to take care of me.”

Jay stood up too quickly and jostled the table. Jasmine flinched at the sound of the dishes clattering.

“Jay, it’s alright,” Mal said.

That was a lie. This was ruined from the start. Jay felt too small for his skin, fit to burst.

“I think it’s too late for us. You guys don’t want me for a prince. I’m spoiled goods and I’m too old to change. Getting to know me would just be a waste of time because…you’re not going to like what you find.”

Once again, Jay took the coward’s way out and ran for the exit.

But because the house was built all magic and wrong, he just kept going forward down looping hallways and ended up in a back garden that shouldn’t exist. The fresh air felt real enough though. It might have felt too cold if he wasn’t all hot and sweaty and nauseous. Jay walked straight to a planter and puke up his dinner into it.

That happened a lot when he got stressed or just when he ate too much. His body wasn’t used to having so much food. Weak stomachs. They all had them.

He wanted to run back to his dorm room or anywhere, but he didn’t know how to get to the front without crossing through the house, and he didn’t want to run into anybody.

He saw a rain gutter though and shimmied up the side of the building on it. The burn in his arms and core felt good.

On the roof, the magic went away. There was no garden below anymore, just the neighboring embassies and beyond that, the lights of the city.

The giant golden watch felt like a manacle. He unlatched it and pulled it off his wrist. He thought about dramatically chucking it off the side of the building, but he was still him, so he pocketed it instead.

It was over now. His parents saw how fucked up he was, and they would go away for good. Too much time had passed. He might have been born a good apple, but he was all rotted now.

That should be a relief, but instead, it just made him sad. It made him want to go back down and beg forgiveness and ask to try again.

Except, Jay really had been trying and trying, and he never got the goal. He just got tired.

He turned at the edge of the roof to pace again and almost lost balance when a blur of purple suddenly flew at him.

Oh, Evil, it was the freaking flying carpet. In passing, his parents had just called it Carpet, proper noun, like it was an old friend. It whirled around him, sort of like Dude sniffing a visitor.

“Hey, get lost!” Jay said.

The carpet instead whirled over to him and stopped, bent over in the middle like it was sitting in a chair.

“I said get lost!” Jay said, trying to sound as threatening as he could. But how do you threaten a carpet? Say you’re gonna beat it?

He should have just gotten to the street and ran home. Now he was spotted. Even if the rug didn’t have eyes, Jay figured it could still see him. 

The carpet pivoted, as if called, and then flew off the roof.

“Jay?” 

Jay cursed under his breath. The carpet returned, now carrying his dad on it. He stepped off the carpet and smiled at Jay, looking relieved.

“Did you climb up here?” he said.

“Didn’t fly,” Jay said, looking at the ground.

“Three flights, impressive,” he said, “I used to jump rooftops. Too old now. I’ll pull something.”

Jay just stared. Was he seriously making a joke right now?

Aladdin dropped his smile and huffed.

“This shouldn’t be so hard,” he said, “I am a fun guy. People like me. My kids like me. But you look at me like that and you flinch when I talk and I want to go to that cursed rock and just-” Aladdin cut himself off and turned away to walk towards the edge, his fists clenched.

“Yeah?” Jay said.

“I was so scared to become a father, but also so excited. We were supposed to be best friends who went on crazy adventures that we don’t tell your mom about.”

“Is that what you and your dad did?”

“No, my dad ran off when I was a kid. I never thought I could be as bad as him and yet.”

“It’s not your fault,” Jay said, “I’m just screwed up.”

“But you’re screwed up because I screwed up. Not that you are screwed up. I just mean- I lost you. I wasn’t able to protect you. Everything that happened to you goes back to that.”

“I’m not some helpless victim!” Jay exploded, “I was there too. I can’t be…I’ve done bad shit! Not because anyone made me. Sometimes I didn’t even think about it that much. Usually I liked it.”

Aladdin was quiet for a bit, and this time, when he spoke, he sounded a lot surer of himself.

“When you only have bad options, you take the good where you can,” Aladdin said, “A full stomach feels good, no matter how the food got there.”

He didn’t seem to be talking in the way other Auradonians did, like they’re doing their very best to imagine something awful but can’t quite picture it. Aladdin spoke from experience.

But then Jay looked his fancy clothes over again and remembered the man was still royalty. it’d been a long time since he had to worry about filling his stomach. Jasmine was a full princess who grew up in a palace and there was something absolutely wrong about a guy like Jay in a world like that.

“Stop doing that,” his dad said.

“What?”

“Shutting down. Or laughing it off. We can’t keep going on where both of us act like the last sixteen years didn’t happen. But you need to stop treating us with kid gloves- “

“-I’m not- “

“-You are. We’re doing the same with you, and then everything gets lost in translation.”

He may have had a point. Jay was treating them like Ben’s parents or a teacher- Auradon adults he didn’t despise but couldn’t necessarily trust either. He definitely didn’t treat them like Mal, Evie, or Carlos.

“Maybe,” Jay said.

“Yes. We need to try something different, if we want this to work. Do you want this to work?”

“I don’t know,” Jay said, “If I’m being honest. It’s just been hard. I feel bad for you guys. I don’t know if that’s enough of a reason.”

“Okay,” he said, “I…it hurts to hear that. I can’t lie. I want to know everything about you.”

Jay snorted, “No, you don’t.”

“Oh, yeah? Try me.”

“Like what?” Jay said.

“Tell me something,” Aladdin said, “Something you’re afraid to say. Something from your past, maybe. Tell me something that should drive me away. Try it.”

Jay could never refuse a challenge. Where to start? It was cold on the roof. It got colder at home. The spray from the ocean froze on his face. The winter a terrible rattle moved into Carlos’ chest. Gods, when it snowed, Jafar could do whatever he wanted, and Jay would be begging to sleep on his piece of floor. People who slept outside got frostbite, lost the tips of their noses and fingers. Try being a pickpocket with no fingers.

But that kind of thing would inspire more pity and blame. Jay wanted a story where he acted. He could think of one. 

“What if I tell you the worst thing I ever did?” Jay said, “Something only…something only family knows.”

Aladdin looked wary, but he nodded.

“I was fourteen. We were sort of part of a gang. Not sort of. We led the gang. The gang had control of all the downtown territory. We made our headquarters in this warehouse that used to be a neutral place for kids to sleep with nowhere else to go. I used to sleep there. It was a shitty thing to do. When kids with no other option came, we could now expect things of them in exchange.”

“Is that the thing?” Aladdin said. Jay shook his head. If only.

“I was sleeping next to Mal. I always do. I was like her bodyguard. I heard something and woke up, and I saw a guy’s hand reaching under her blanket. I didn’t hesitate. I jumped on him, and I just laid into him. Automatically. Even though I was twice his size. I couldn’t even see his face in the dark. I knew how to fight by then. It wasn’t even a fight. I knocked out his teeth, and he just took it.

“Mal woke up then and pulled me off, and I finally took a good look. It was just a little kid. He was whimpering and crying and saying sorry over and over, which isn’t what you’re supposed to do. Todd. His name was Todd.”

They sat quietly for a long time. There were things Jay didn’t say. How the kid looked so much like Carlos, curling inward to block any more pain from coming. How he looked like Mal. The first time she’d been kicked out as a punishment, nine years old and so tiny, Mal had found Jay’s old spot, on a rooftop with makeshift tarps. Jay knew her from school and the markets. Everyone did. She said she’d figured it was time they officially joined up and swiped his blanket like she was doing him a favor. It wasn’t until later he found out Mal had nowhere else to go that night and figured the pickpocket that she traded with sometimes was her best chance. She’d always slept close to him, so Jay’s bigger body formed a protective wall, hiding her from any intruders.

“What happened after that?” Aladdin said.

Jay sighed, “Mal told me I fucked up. She told me to take him to this witch healer. I dropped his body there and ran.

“His brothers found out. They went after Carlos and beat him up as bad as I beat Todd. Figured that was fair, blood for blood. Then they dumped Carlos at Jafar’s door. I had to explain the whole situation to him, and I thought he’d call me an idiot, but Jafar said he was proud. He didn’t think I had it in me.

“I found out later Todd had never slept on the streets before that night. He was going over to Mal to ask permission to stay there. He didn’t know how it worked. Stupid kid.”

Aladdin was silent for one agonizing minute. 

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Jay said.

“You said that was the worst thing you ever did. You obviously regret it. You’re not a bad person.”

“Don’t say that,” Jay said.

“Why not?”

“Don’t let me off easy!” Jay said, “I didn’t even stick around to make sure I didn’t kill the kid! I didn’t even think before I started wailing on him. I beat up plenty of kids before and after him. Chad said I enjoy hurting people, and he was right! Don’t tell me you want a kid like that!”

Jay was now screaming in Aladdin’s face. He stepped back and covered his eyes with the heels of his hands. He was not going to fucking cry. He’d beat himself up if he shed a tear. Maybe he should go punch someone. He could punch Chad in public in front of a TV camera and then Aladdin and Jasmine would never talk to him again and-

“I still steal,” Aladdin said.

Jay lowered his hands. Aladdin was standing there, looking at Jay like he was a wild animal about to bolt.

_“Why?”_

“Because old habits die hard. Because it’s still fun. Because having a little bit of wealth in my hand makes me feel safe. It gives me power when I feel powerless. I need that. Especially on hard days like when I’m way out of my depth at ruling or when I think my son is out in the world, alone and scared and sleeping on the ground.”

“It wasn’t always the ground,” Jay said quietly.

“I don’t care if you take the title or the responsibilities. Your mother doesn’t care. We just want you to be happy.” Jay sighed.

“When I was six or seven, Jafar told me I had to work for my keep. If I didn’t steal enough, he kicked me out. I was good at it though, eventually. I made allies. The other street rats followed me. I could have made it on my own. But I kept going back to Jafar. Not for food or a place to sleep. I just wanted to make him happy. I hate that about myself the most. Maybe I could have gotten away earlier, and I didn’t.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that. You were trying to survive. He plays games with people to get them to do what he wants.”

Something in Jay’s chest loosened at hearing another person talk about Jafar like they knew. Jay had been holding his parents so far apart from himself, but they’d been in his place once. Their experience felt so small compared to seventeen years, but once, they’d been that helpless too.

“I could never think you’re a bad person, Jay. My father’s criminal record could fill a library, but he’s one of the most caring people I’ve ever met. On the streets and in this job, I’ve met some real evil people, but mostly, I see people who have violence in them because someone else put it there.”

Jay’s hand went to an old scar on his elbow from when Jafar had pushed him. His arm had sliced open on the store counter. It was still bumpy because he hadn’t known how to do stitches yet and because he picked at it too much. He still did.

“I’m not scared off, Jay. You could scream at us and hate us, and I’d still want to be your dad. You don’t have to try. So, maybe, could give it another go?”

Maybe it would be exhausting. But Jay had done harder. He nodded.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Aladdin said. He held out a hand, “Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m your dad.”

Jay laughed and shook his hand, “Ya know, you looked kind of familiar.”

His dad smiled back, “We should probably get back inside. I’m afraid of what your friends will do to this house until they find you.”

“They’ll be fine to wait a couple of minutes,” Jay said. He just needed a few more breaths before he faced all of them.

“Well, if they’re okay…do you want some fresh air?”

“Yeah. I’m sort of getting it now?” Jay said.

“I’m talking a different kind,” he said. He whistled, and in seconds, the carpet returned from where it’d been flying above them. It stopped short and floated flat a foot above the rooftop.

“Uh…are you serious?” Jay said, laughing nervously. He’d heard the stories, but this rug surely could not hold two grown men.

“What about one quick little crazy adventure with your old man?” he said, smiling roguishly. For the first time, Jay saw the person of his father, his _dad_ , not just an alternative to Jafar or a bar of expectations Jay would never rise to.

“Yeah, I’m in,” Jay said.

After Jay took off, Aladdin stood up next, a shadow over his expression. He said something in Arabic to his wife. Mal picked up on the words “kill” “Jafar” and “now.”

Jasmine said something back, an order. He blinked, nodded, and ran off after Jay. Aziz was staring at his parents like he barely knew them.

Mal stood up to follow Aladdin with a tracking spell on her lips. Jasmine turned to her. 

“Perhaps, you kids should go home,” Jasmine said, her voice cool as a cucumber, “We can have someone drive you back.”

“Is the dinner over?” Aziz said.

“Yes, dear, go to your room,” Jasmine said. He backed up his seat and scurried away. Mal wondered if that was the kind of easy results she expected from Jay.

“I can have a car brought around,” Jasmine said. She spoke in that tone FG used before Mal called her out on it that said _you’re being handled._ Classic Auradon strategy: sweep under the rug and smile as if nothing happened.

“We should make sure Jay’s okay first,” Mal said.

“We will look after him,” she said, “Clearly, we have some matters to discuss.”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Mal said, “I’ll feel better if I get to see him.”

“I think we’re all very tired- “

“-Princess, you are not going to get rid of us that easily,” Mal said. The courtesies vanished. She was not going to be dismissed, not with Jay left behind. It was the kind of betrayal they did not do.

The way Jay had said _spoiled goods_ made Mal want to burn this big beautiful house down. He’d been left alone with these people- people that Mal had vouched for- and this was how they made him feel? Meanwhile Mal was off on the fool’s errand of trying to get her father to want her. Now she just wanted to get hers and get the fuck out of here, slamming the door on these assholes forever.

“I am not getting rid of you, dear,” Jasmine said, saying dear with the same insolence Mal had said Princess. Mal could taste blood now.

“So, we’ll stay,” Mal said, “Let’s split up.” Carlos and Evie stood up. Ben followed a second later, looking between Mal and Jasmine with wide, but not panicked eyes. Even the king knew to defer when it came to Mal’s family.

“Aladdin can talk to him,” Jasmine said.

“Forgive me if I lack confidence,” Mal said. Carlos and Evie shared a look.

“I am his mother- “

“Evie nursed him when he was sick. Carlos double-checks all his homework. I sang to him when he couldn’t sleep. Isn’t that what mothers do?” Mal said.

Jasmine’s steeliness cracked, and horror of horrors, she began to _cry_.

“Mal,” Evie scolded. She broke rank to put a comforting hand on the princess’ back.

“I would have done all that if I could,” Jasmine said coldly, “I am a good mother. He would have had a better life.”

“He would have. We should have,” Mal said. She’s so tired of thinking about the _should_ , “But we did what we could for each other. I have put all I got into keeping these three alive. Show some respect to that. “

“I can’t believe I waited seventeen years to see my son again, and now I have to go through the whims of a teenage girl,” Jasmine said.

“Pardon?” Evie said, retracting her kind hand, “We have only helped you! Jay never wanted to talk to you people again. We told him he could give you a shot.”

“Rethinking it as we speak,” Mal said.

“It makes me feel completely inadequate to be treated with such suspicion by three children.”

“I think my suspicion is entirely warranted. What was all that he said about spoiled goods? He doesn’t talk that way to us. I swear to all evil, did you tell him he isn’t good enough for your stupid throne?”

“No!” Jasmine said.

“Did you make comments? About his clothes, the way he talks, any of it? Are you trying to change him?”

“It’s my job to look out for him. He has spent most of his life in one awful place so yes, maybe I am trying to show him something different from what he’s known. If trying to give your child a better education and future is a crime, yes, I am guilty.”

“I heard about the meeting with Coach,” Carlos said, “You want Jay far away from us, right in your pocket.”

“Agrabah is his home! It was only a _suggestion._ ”

“You don’t even know the first thing about him though or where he’s coming from. Like tonight with the fucking watch. Come on, Princess, you could have asked me first for a list of reasons why that was a terrible idea.”

“What was wrong with it?”

“It was too much! That would have meant food for a year. He would have gotten himself killed trying to steal something like that, and you just handed it to him.”

“But he said he liked it!”

“He would never tell you if he didn’t,” Evie said.

“Jay lived for Jafar’s approval. You have to understand that,” Carlos said, “He will never say no to you guys, no matter how much it’s killing him. We know that you are different people. Obviously. But it’s hard for us to watch him fall back into old patterns.”

Jasmine didn’t say a rebuttal this time. She’d stopped crying too. She tugged the chain of her ruby necklace and stared at the table.

“Oh,” she said. For another minute, she was quiet.

“I did not realize he would be associating us at all with that man. He made a comment that one day to Al, but I didn’t think. It’s actually so obvious.”

“We know you don’t mean to,” Evie said, “Jay hardly seems to realize it.”

“That does make a lot of sense,” she said, putting the heels of her hands to her eyes, “Fuck, I’ve really made a mess of this, haven’t I?”

“Wow. I didn’t know princesses could swear,” Carlos said.

“I have a terrible temperament for a princess. Always have. I’m rash and when I make a mistake or feel I’m losing control, I double down. My position and my missing child made it so very few people would ever dare to tell me when I’m wrong. So, I needed to hear that. Thank you. I just hope I’m not too late to fix things.”

“That’s up to Jay,” Mal said, “Let’s split up and look for him.” Mal started moving her hands in the motions she and Jane had practiced. She could feel her own power bristle against the cloy of the wards’. Before she could begin speaking the incantation, Jay and Aladdin walked into the room.

“Hey,” Jay said. Mal scanned him over. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, and his hair had fallen out of its bun, but he didn’t seem to be injured.

He was smiling a little too. Thankfully, it wasn’t the fake smile he’d been wearing for his parents all evening, that alternated between so tight it looked pained or so wide it became theatrics. Mal exhaled in relief.

“Hey,” she said. She inclined her head to say _are you okay?_

“I’m good. Sorry about before. All these changes have been kind of…a lot.”

Mal snorted, “You keep us waiting her for the big revelation that this has been ‘a lot?’”

“Okay, it’s been a lot and stressful and _weird_. But we talked, and I think we’re cool now?”

“Cool?” Jasmine said, like she didn’t know the word.

“Cool,” Aladdin said. He was beaming. Mal looked at the two of them and their tousled clothes and hair. What the hell had they been doing?

Jasmine asked something in Arabic. Aladdin and Jay nodded, and Jay said something back. Jasmine laughed and said something else, softer. Jay said yes and then turned to them.

“Uh, we’ll be right back. You guys could go, if you’re tired,” Jay said. Mal shook her head.

“Or eat cake?” Aladdin said.

“Cake and stay,” Mal said. She wasn’t giving the princess that much credit yet, even if the vibe now felt significantly improved.

“Okay, I’ll grab the cake,” Aladdin said. Jasmine led Jay out of the dining room. He looked back and mouthed _“it’s okay.”_

Jay had just literally flown. The adrenaline of that still coursing through his body was maybe the only reason he wasn’t afraid to face his friends or to accept his mom’s request for a moment alone.

She pulled her jacket and his out of a closet and led him outside to the front steps of the embassy. Apparently, his parents both shared a preference for having emotionally loaded conversations outside. The street was quiet. She leaned on the bannister and pulled her coat tight around here.

“I like it out here,” she said, “I like the sound of the traffic.”

“It’s nice,” he said. 

“I think I owe you a lot of apologies,” she said, “I know you don’t want to hear them, but maybe I can get them all out tonight and then just move on?”

“Okay,” he said, “That’s kind of what me and Aladdin just did.”

“Okay. First is a blanket one. I’ve been making a lot of missteps since you came back.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. There’s no playbook,” he said. She held up a hand.

“I feel so much guilt for how you were lost and all the little things I didn’t get to do. I just sort of kept having ideas about nice things to do for you, and you never said anything, so I didn’t stop. The colleges, the shirt, even your jacket tonight.”

“You’re right. It really isn’t warm enough. I just like it because Evie made it for me. It’s actually, it was made out of different wallets I stole.”

She looked closer and then laughed, a genuine laugh, coarser than he’d expect. She ran her finger over the thick seams that held the different leather pieces together.  
“That’s hilarious,” she said, “I should have one made for your father.”

“Carlos helped get enough wallets. Mal painted the back too. It was a gift. I never got a lot of gifts,” he said.

“That’s so sweet. I didn’t know. I will stop suggesting replacing your clothes,” she said.

“I mean, I could use some new sneakers. Don’t go crazy,” he said. She laughed. It really was a nice sound.

“I also feel like I should apologize for move-in day,” she said.

“We don’t have to rehash it. You didn’t know.”

“I was so jealous,” she said, “Jafar had this healthy, perfect son, and my boy was dead. If I’d only thought about the coincidence of Jafar having a son that age for two more seconds before leaping to resentment. I was always too hot-headed for my own good.”

“I am too,” he said. She smiled for a second and then looked at him straight on.

“He hit you,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” he said, “It sort of stopped when I got bigger. I made it stop.”

Jay remembered the day he had grabbed Jafar’s hand as it came flying towards his face. Jafar looked at him, now nearly eye level. From then on, it would rarely be fists, just threats and insults.

Jay knew that Jafar knew that Jay could physically overpower him if it really came down to it, but Jay would still flinch and go _yessir_ if Jafar spoke with enough bite. No matter how tough his rep was in the Isle streets, he was always little in his father’s house. He thought that was what family meant.

“When you went missing…I didn’t know I could feel pain like that,” she said, “You were my first. My heir, who I was going to share everything with. It was like my heart had been expanded only to be crushed. Then there was the searching, the false leads and disappointments. After a year…you were just a baby. The chances of survival were so slim.

“And now…I can’t stop thinking about you with Jafar in that terrible place. All my awful scenarios happened, and I wasn’t there to protect you. Despite everything, you grew up into this confident, brave person, and I missed it. I keep trying to make up for lost time, like if I can do all the normal mother things now, it means I got some part of the last sixteen years back. But you are your own person, with your own experiences.”

“I really do want to know you guys,” Jay said, “I just need to take it slow. I’m not ready to move to Agrabah and play prince, okay?”

She nodded, “Okay. But may I ask one thing of you?”

“Sure?” he said.

“Never again think you are not good enough for this family or for your home. You never have to do a thing to earn our love, and nothing you’ve ever done could take it away.”

“Okay,” he said, and Evil, he felt the tears coming back again. He took a deep breath.

“One last thing, and then we can eat some of your birthday cake,” she said, “I’m sorry about the watch. Your friends explained how it must have been overwhelming.”

“It’s okay,” he said, “It really is nice.”  
“You don’t have to accept it. It’s just that I didn’t show you its best feature. May I see it?” Jay pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She turned the rim of the face, and a golden arrow appeared, pointing to his left.

“Woah,” he said.

“It’s enchanted to point to the palace so no matter where you are, you can find your way home,” she said.

Maybe it’d just been a long night, but the tender way she said home twisted something in Jay’s throat. It didn’t matter if it was a palace he didn’t remember. It was a building where people who really cared about him could be found. It was a roof you could always sleep under. It was a place where you weren’t left in the cold. Jay knew the worth of that.


End file.
